Squids Of Fate
by MaizeTheYellowInkling
Summary: Things are looking normal for these friends and their family, however one fateful encounter with some odd characters, it sets them on the course of strange and crazy events. Will they be able to make it through these challenges that seem to only get worse and worse? Will they be able to keep their friends and family safe? Please Review! (This is a sequel to a one shot of mine.)
1. Normal Day

**Authors Note: Hi all! I hope you like my new fic, please review and let me know what you think about it. And yes, this is a sequel to one of my prior one shots.**

The sun was dangling in the sky. Soon, it would be sundown. Autumn had only started a week ago. The air was beginning to cool, and mother nature had been quick to work. The trees were being stripped of their leaves so fast, not that the inhabitants minded. The inklings in the city of Inkopolis were enjoying the leaves, another fun thing to them. Some were using piles of leaves to their advantage in turf wars for sneak attacks, and others would just play with them outright and ignore their turf wars.

In one apartment, light metal music was playing loudly from the back room. A young fourteen-year-old squid with big blue tentacles with an orange tinge was in the kitchen, sporting a domino mask around his bright blue eyes, a bright red shirt that had a stripes on it to make it look like a turtle shell, and a necklace on that had three sharp jagged triangular shaped teeth, two of them were chipped and brittle and the other between the two had been damaged by age drastically.

"Can't believe I got dunked in the bath again…" he sighed while staring at a small cage that had various twigs, rocks, leaves and dirt in it. Cambridge he had the misfortune of losing his father at a very young age. The teeth on the necklace were all he had left to remember him by, along with the pictures the family had. All inklings had two sets of teeth, three sharp ones in the front of their mouth and a set of normal ones behind them that were way weaker in contrast. The young blue squid was staring at his pet leaf bugs that were housed in the tiny container, and they blended in really well with the small environment. The blue inkling was a little annoyed because his mother woke him up today by dropping him in a bath tub full of cold water. Squids melted in salt water until they were splattered, but fresh water was perfectly fine to them.

Cambridge left his pets in the kitchen and made his way down the hall. The walls were covered in photographs and pictures that depicted the young boy and his mother. A few were photos of his orange tentacled father, and all of his photos had a bright and happy feeling emit from each of them. He was a great man, and he had been told that it was hard not to be happy around him before his untimely death.

"Mom?" he spoke as he entered his mother's bedroom, he cut off the music from the nearby stereo. There was a queen sized bed in the center. A set of weights lay along the left wall, arranged in size, the biggest going up to a hundred pounds. On the floor doing push ups, was an older woman with five dark blue tentacles that were slightly puffed up and running down her back. Each set of tentacles was longer than the next, the middle one being the longest. She sported an orange shirt top and several earrings in only her left pointy ear, each one different.

"Oh, hey honey," Zaffre greeted her son. For her age of thirty-two, she was very strong. She preferred to stay fit and exercise regularly, though she still acted in a way that made her look odd. Zaffre had motherly instincts, but she was a lot straighter forward in her parenting. So far her methods were working perfectly. Her son was the only one she had left in her life, but she did not want to spoil him.

"Umm… mom you're doing a lot more training lately. did something happen?" Cambridge nervously wondered. His mother liked to exercise, but she also did it when angry to take out her frustration. She did have some issues with controlling her rage, but she managed.

"No, honey. Nothing has happened. Well… look, how about you sit on my back?" Zaffre then requested.

"Oh? Okay," Cambridge nodded. He was quite short for his age compared to most teenagers. He sat down on his mother's back while she continued her push ups.

"I'm not going to be working from home anymore," Zaffre simply stated, having spent the last few years working away from the comfort of her own apartment. Sadly, the pay was not enough, and she had to get another job.

"Really? What are you going to be doing?" Cambridge asked, quite happy for his mother.

"I'll surprise you later. I ran into an old friend and he hooked me up," Zaffre hummed. As she then stood up, she tossed her son off her back onto the bed. She stretched, having finished her push ups. She grabbed a towel off the nearby dresser and began to wipe the sweat off her head.

"What about you, squiddo? You got anything planned for today?" she asked, sitting down on the bed beside him. She always was worried for her son. He did not really have much confidence or self-esteem, thereby he could be pushed around easily. He only had one real friend in this world.

"Uhh… I-I was going to go with Alizarin to check out the new mall across town," Cambridge exclaimed. He had only met his best friend Alizarin a few months ago, and it was far from a good start between them and the blue squid's mom. His mother pulled out her wallet from her pocket.

"Gimme your coin card," Zaffre ordered, pulling a coin card out of her wallet that was a shade of gold. On the front of it was an older photo of her, a barcode, a list of digits that showed the amount, and a tiny device on the bottom of the card. Everyone in Inkopolis had a coin card. They were easy to replace, and they were the best way to carry the currency around Inkopolis. After all, no one wanted to carry bags overstuffed with coins.

"Oh? Uhh, alright," Cambridge put his coin card in her hand. She attached the coin cards together by the devices at the bottom and slid her fingers across the numbers on her coin card, transferring 2,000 coins onto her son's card. The transfer complete, she gave it back to him. He smiled, seeing a great amount of 10,158 coins.

"Thanks mom!" he quickly hugged her waist, before he quickly made his way out. Zaffre had a small smirk, wanting to surprise her son with the new job position she had that she would be starting soon.

"Oh, and be back before eight, or I'll hunt you down!" she called out to him as she heard the apartment door slam shut. She huffed, going off to take a shower with the towel slung over her shoulders. She just hoped her son would have a fun time at this new mall. She had not heard much about it other than its recently completed construction.

Cambridge walked towards the subway with a smile on his face. Around him, the variously colored leaves were being played with by many squids diving into piles or having squid parties in them. Some were gathering leaves in bags just to dump on their friends. The light blue squid absentmindedly wandered underneath a tree during his travels. A young squirt, a child inkling, still was in the tree above him. The squid child, laughed shaking the branch.

"Huh?" Cambridge looked up. Suddenly he was buried in leaves and could hear some other squirts and other inklings diving into the pile. He popped his head up out of the leaves like a hesitant turtle before climbing out and continuing on his way to the subway, the leaves crinkling beneath his shoes.

"Hey! Cambridge!" he heard, looking over to his left to see someone running his direction to meet up with him. The blue eyed squid smiled recognizing his familiar friend, Alizarin. His bright red tentacles were tied up behind his head with a crown shaped hair band holding them together, and he was wearing a blue coat that had a happy jellyfish decal on the front of it. He was the only friend to the blue inkling, the two had an odd start to their friendship. Alizarin had once bullied and assaulted Cambridge, but after a fight with his mother Zaffre, the two became good friends and have grown closer each passing day. The red squid had his own fair share of issues. He had been adopted by a foster parent since his only living family was now serving time in jail.

"Hey, Ali," Cambridge greeted as his friend fixed the crown shaped hair band on his head, the two beginning to wander down the steps into the subway.

"You're late you know," Alizarin commented as they pulled out their subway pass cards and swiped them so they could go through the turnstiles. It was a confusing statement to the blue inkling, as he was there before his dear friend was.

"Um… I'm sorry?" Cambridge replied as they stepped into the crowded boarding platform and waited, seeing the rails on the ground with the tunnels that were hard to see down at all.

"Come on man. You need to get a back bone," Alizarin insisted. He only had said that in hopes of his friend to argue. That lack of confidence or self-esteem was irritating. Alizarin had seen others trying to bully his friend, though thankfully the blue squid had his friend to watch out for him. Normally they could defuse any situation before it escalated to a violent manner.

"I'm sorry. I just don't like to fight," Cambridge apologized as they saw the subway train pull up to the boarding platform. The doors opened widely, allowing all the passengers to begin boarding and piling inside. The two young squid boys took seats next to one another that was close to the doors they had entered through. After a few seconds, they watched the subway train doors close as it began to slowly move.

"Yeah, but you have to fight, Cambridge. Otherwise, you just look weird. You have to have an actual opinion," Alizarin continued his argument. Cambridge sighed, falling silent and staring at the floor with no idea what to say to that. His friend was not wrong. He really was a bland blue squid. The subway train was a little filled, but he shook it off, trying to enjoy the ride and look forward to the mall. They had missed the grand opening, but they were more thankful for that, not wanting to imagine what it would have been like on opening day with the Squid Sisters promoting their newest album, which meant a giant horde to fight through for little to no gain at all. That was just the norm for the Squid Sisters' popularity.

"We are now arriving to western Inkopolis," a bored voice announced over the speaker. Cambridge and Alizarin felt the train beginning to slow down before it came to a halt, the doors sliding open. The two of them disembarked from the train, and they made their way up to get above ground.

"Wow. I haven't been here in years," Cambridge commented, looking over the western part of Inkopolis. This area was a lot more of a shopping center, barely lacking any housing. They could not go five feet without seeing a bunch of different stores. Being the biggest shopping area around, it meant anyone who came through had to be careful with con artists and fake merchandise being everywhere, though they normally gave themselves away with deals that were too good to be true.

"Mall shouldn't be far," Alizarin pointed ahead, continuing forward with his friend. They could see the mall in the distance the sign on the front, which had a nice shell symbol on the front. It was called the Pearlymussel Mall, and a vast number of squids were making their way into the new mall. Anyone who witnessed it would. It was popular, and good word about it had spread across the city fast. The two friends came to a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change so they could walk across.

"Wuh?" Cambridge looked to his right. He noticed someone crossing the road already, who had three big green tentacles tied together on the back of her head, the middle one separated from the other two. Strangely though, spines were running around the edges of her tentacles, and parts of her tentacles and her own skin had green colored scales on parts of them. She was wearing a red leather coat, with matching red jeans.

"Cambridge?" Alizarin quirked, as his friend suddenly rushed toward the random squid girl. The red inkling could see a car speeding right towards them. The red squid was too slow to follow or react, as Cambridge tackled her from behind in an attempt to save her from getting hit by the car, the tires screeching loudly to a halt.

" **Cambridge!** "


	2. PearlyMussel Mall

**Authors Note: This is just something I forgot to mention in my last note, this fic will be updated every 2 days. Sorry for forgetting, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

A brief moment felt like an eternity. Cambridge kept his eyes closed tight. He had thrown himself at another inkling to try and save her from the way of a car. His heart skipped a beat upon hearing the screeching tires. He felt too tense, having done this out of instinctive response. His body had acted well before his mind could even process a lone thought.

"Cambridge!" Alizarin's voice kept calling out as he ran over to the other side of the stopped car. They had gained a lot of attention. He let out a sigh of relief, seeing no harm had been inflicted on his best friend who was just on the weird scaled inkling's back. He had gotten her out of the way just in time.

"I think my heart stopped for a second…" Cambridge whimpered. His friend helped him up. The worst injury the blue squid had sustained was a few scratches and scrapes. They both reached down to help up the random woman who looked only a year older than them.

"Are you okay?" Alizarin asked. The girl turned around to face them. Her green eyes housed no joy in them. A big bruise showed on her cheek from the fall on the pavement.

"No, I'm not okay! You hurt me, you little brat!" she angrily pointed at the blue squid. This was the last reaction he expected to hear from someone whose life he just saved from being brought to a tragic end. Though she was nearly their age, so he wondered why she was referring to him as a brat.

"Whoa, lady! Chill! He just saved your life," Alizarin retorted, seeing her tapping her foot impatiently. Cambridge had a bad feeling that something horrible was going to go down between the green scaled squid and his best friend. They noticed a random squad of others approach her backside. One was a jellyfish, and the other four were inklings in vast confusing clothing.

"You puppet squids don't know who you just attacked, do you?" one of the random group spoke up, the five of them gathering around her with hostile looks on them. This was getting creepy to the two squid friends.

"Puppet squids?" Cambridge muttered, not exactly getting the insult. Perhaps it was a new term flying around for insults, but the only real insult he knew was angler, meaning a two faced liar.

"Who do you think you are that makes you so important?" Alizarin retorted in his friend's defence. The weird squid girl giggled a bit, leaning back before putting a thumb on her chest.

"I'm Kreon! The master of the ink brush and the only dragon squid in all of Inkopolis!" she exclaimed. There were a lot of species of squid on this planet but they had never heard of a dragon inkling before.

"Wow. It sounds like your gene pool could use some chlorine," Alizarin grinned, laughing a little at his own insult.

"Maybe we should just go…" Cambridge muttered fearfully. The insult did not phase her, yet at the same time, they could sense a heavy aura of rage emanating from the group this strange scaly inkling had with her.

"Dude! You just insulted the inkbrush master, after you assaulted her!" the jellyfish angrily spoke, but sadly his high-pitched tone of voice made him sound cuter than threatening. It really did not match his tough guy act he was trying to put up.

"Yeah, bro! Our master is an S+ squid on the turf!" another one of the group spoke up.

"She's S+ rank?!" Cambridge gasped in shock. They were referring to her turf war rank, every inkling in the battle tower had a rank, but S+ was the highest available. Cambridge was only a B, and his friend Alizarin was A-. Their ranks were standard compared to most. It was very hard to rank up since it took a lot of effort, but it was always possible and unbiased.

"Yes I am S+. You kids should show respect!" Kreon stepped toward them, and she put her hand on the blue squid's cheeks, grabbing him by the chin.

"Give me your phone number," the dragon squid ordered. Alizarin was about to grab her and throw her off his friend, but he was surrounded by the dragon inkling's crew, they were stopping him from even laying a hand on her.

"Uhhhh… a-alright…" Cambridge hesitantly pulled out his cellphone that was in the shape of an arrow. He watched as Kreon pulled out her phone and held it against his. They formed an X shape, and after a second, they had each other's contact information in their phones. Kreon let go of him afterwards.

"Thanks, squiddie. You owe me one. I'll call you when it's time to repay that favor," Kreon giggled, beginning to walk away. The five goons of hers followed seconds after, all of them heading toward the mall. Alizarin went over to make sure his friend was okay.

"What is her deal? Not even a thanks! You know, dude, maybe you should've let'er become lizard roadkill!" Alizarin said, enraged. Cambridge pocketed his phone, but then he looked down and saw a green scale, which presumably the dragon squid dropped it herself when she got tackled to the ground. He picked it up and pocketed it.

"She probably has her reason for being so aggressive. Maybe I messed up her makeup?" Cambridge tried to rationalize it.

Alizarin facepalmed, irritated that his friend still didn't grow a spine, "You sure you aren't half-jellyfish?"

"I don't know much about my ancestry…" Cambridge claimed as they were walking into pearlymussel mall. It was packed tight with people; everywhere they looked seemed more full than the next. This mall was three floors high. They viewed the nearby guide standing out to point the way to any store they wanted to go. Each floor of the mall had two different specific sales departments full of miniature stores. The first floor was half full of clothing shops or gaming stores. The second floor appeared dedicated to weapon stores and exercise gyms. Why anyone would want to get fit in a public mall was beyond the two squid boys' minds. The third floor was the biggest book store in Inkopolis with a great view of Inkopolis from up high, being dedicated to the other half.

"Come on! Let's check out the clothing stores!" Alizarin grabbed his friend's hand and happily dragged him along with haste. Cambridge did his best to keep up as fast as his short legs could carry him. There were too many stores to pick from, though the two decided to settle by entering the first shop that did not have a big line in it. A few of the stores even had people lined up outside.

"Does this store sell fresh stuff?" Cambridge questioned. This store looked to be selling normal stuff and would not judge anyone by their freshness rank. Most stores that sold turf war gear would have the freshest of items on display. He looked over to see his friend on his cellphone.

"Eh? Oh, sorry. I had a text from Caitlyn. I asked if her and her cousin Mario wanted to meet up with us here," Alizarin apologized, referring to two of his other friends he had aside from the blue inkling standing before him. Cambridge had not met them much and knew little about them beyond their names, which despite the sounding of the name Mario, they both were girls and cousins to one another. He knew his friend had a more ulterior motive, mostly because he had put him up to meeting his friends before that got shot down instantly.

"Are you still trying to get a double date with them?" Cambridge asked nervously.

"You're telling me you don't want a date with either of them? Cambro, they're the cutest girls I know," Alizarin nodded. He intended it, and he was quite proud of it. But he was more determined to have his friend be in on this as well.

"Ali! One always wears a medical mask when outside! And the other wears sunglasses everywhere, how do you even know what they look like?" Cambridge replied, upset, not because he did not trust those friends to his friend. He thought they were actually very nice, but he had a problem with this, as Alizarin wanted Cambridge to be the fourth for this double date desire that he was having.

"Come on, man. Just back me up on this. You could use a nice night out with someone anyway. Heck, when was the last time you were on a date?" Alizarin asked as they left the boring store when they realized the clerk was asleep at the front desk, probably from the horribly lacking business.

"I've… never been on a date," Cambridge honestly answered, mentally hoping that his best friend would not make some sly comment about it.

"Wow… don't worry. I'll make sure that your first date is a great double date," the red inkling laughed, though heard the alert tone for his phone go off. He tapped on the screen to view the new text he had received.

"Sorry, can't meet up right now. My cousin is not feeling well. I think she ate a bad hot dog, or several. – Caitlyn"

Alizarin looked disappointed, but his blue friend admittedly was happier about it. He would feel bad harassing those two for a double date that he did not even want. Suddenly, he noticed something.

"Hey, look," Cambridge shook his friend out of his disappointed trance as he pointed to the right. There was that familiar jellyfish from Kreon's crew, but he was alone. They did not see the dragon squid or the rest of her goons.

"It's just that weird jellyfish," Alizarin brushed it aside with little care. But very soon did they notice a small briefcase being carried by the suspicious jellyfish. They watched as he made his way to the maintenance room, entering in and closing the door behind him.

"Did he just go into a closet?" the red squid spoke.

"All the maintenance rooms are connected together. In case of emergencies, they can take you down below into the subway tunnels," Cambridge exclaimed. He had read this information on the sign earlier when they first entered. He was afraid to not know how to get out of a building in case something occurred. Unfortunately for him, he saw that thinking face look on his best friend.

"Well let's go follow him then," Alizarin wanted to find some way to get revenge on Kreon, and if they couldn't find some way to pay her back for her negligence, then they could annoy her cohort. Cambridge did not get to say anything before his friend had darted off ahead of him.

"Wa-wait up!" he called out, being forced to follow, not wanting to be left alone in this place he had barely explored.


	3. Impulse

Cambridge and Alizarin had entered the maintenance room to follow Kreon's friend. The maintenance room was long and looked more like a tunnel with a few ladders on the walls along the way. They weren't kidding with that safety advisory on the sign at the entrance for how to escape in case all exits inside were cut off somehow.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cambridge asked while they began to walk. The only lights were dangling from wires on the ceiling quite poorly, looking ready to fall at a moment's notice. The young squid felt afraid of this almost pitch dark connected area.

"Have I ever had a bad idea?" Alizarin retorted as they continued down the confusing path, where the only guide they had were the few arrows along the way that were labelled to help them escape, or name another door to get back into the mall whenever need be. They were looking around blindly to find the mean jellyfish.

"I don't know," Cambridge sighed. His friend always had ideas, but even if they were good, they usually would go wrong in some sense of the word. Alizarin stopped suddenly, holding his hand behind him and stopping his friend as well. They could hear a voice over there.

"Hi sorry I'm late," that familiar high pitched voice from the jellyfish spoke up. The two made their way sluggishly around the corner, hiding behind a forgotten empty box. They could see a room up ahead, where there dangled a light above, and lay a long table with trash and tools around, feeling like a janitorial staffs attempt at making a hidden club. They watched as the jellyfish tossed the briefcase onto the table and jumped up onto the chair, though it was too short for him, so he wound up getting a few books off the nearby pile of garbage to use as a booster seat

"Why did you put them in a briefcase? That just makes you look conspicuous," a somewhat rugged scratchy voice asked. They could not see who it was. He was in the shadows of this dark room.

"Because it looks more dramatic!" the jellyfish happily answered. A frustrated sigh sounded from the shady stranger. The two squids could not see any more of Kreon's gang, or Kreon herself. The shadowed man opened up the briefcase, and inside were ten coin cards.

"Here you are! Ninty million coins! Jackpot, am I right?" the jellyfish jumped a bit. Each coin card could only hold five million coins each. If a card reached its maximum capacity, the owner could go request an upgraded platinum card which would be costly, or they could simply get another duplicate coin card. Most usually went with the latter.

"Whoa…" Cambridge gasped. He and his friend were shocked. Alizarin was wide eyed and already focused on that case intensely. The coin cards inside had no pictures on them, as if someone had removed them intentionally to hide the true owner's ID of the cards.

"Think we can nick one?" Alizarin grinned, wanting to steal any amount of coin cards from that briefcase that they could. Cambridge shook his head.

"N-no. I don't want to steal from… Ali?!" the blue squid gulped, too late to stop Alizarin from changing into his squid form and quickly sliding along the floor through the darkness, making his way slowly toward the two conducting the deal.

"Ali, no, don't! Your dad will kill you, and then he'll tell my mom and she'll kill me!" Cambridge whispered pleadingly. His mother's punishments made every last muscle in his body sore by the end of it all, and it could occasionally span over the course of a week. He didn't want this at all, but he knew he would get in trouble just by association.

"You work fast, Jelek. You couldn't have possibly done this alone, could you?" the other dealer asked. As Alizarin got under the table, still in his squid form, he carefully reached up though. Just as he was about to reach a tentacle into the case it got pulled away by the shady man, without noticing the tentacle.

"Nope. I didn't want to be late for the payment, so I asked the others secretly if they wanted to join, and they all gladly signed up to help me with my plan," Jelek saluted. For a serious transaction, he sounded like it was a walk in the park to get the millions of coins. Any inkling had bundles of money, and it was easy to get them from playing turf wars or working, but jellyfish weren't allowed in turf wars for their inability to transform or use ink based weapons. It would be greatly unfair toward them. Thankfully the jellyfish of Inkopolis understood completely and gladly did not start a riot over it.

"Ah… so I take it you and they want to join our crew as well?" the man's voice cackled a little while closing the briefcase and putting a lock on it to keep it shut. Cambridge could see an annoyed look on his best friend. Just by hearing the sounds of the coin cards being locked away made Alizarin determined to steal this.

"Yeah! Me and the other four are all begging to get in… don't tell me we gotta get more money, do we?" Jelek nervously questioned, looking like he would have a heart attack if he was right.

"Ehh… normally I would say yes, but considering you are the first person to ever meet the deadline for the payment, I'll let you and ya pals in. Here is the address for our place," the deep voice handed over a card with writing on it. Jelek squealed happily, jumping on the table and hugging the other person of this deal.

"You won't regret this, boss!" the jellyfish claimed.

"I already am," he groaned. Suddenly, Alizarin just popped up while they were distracted and grabbed the briefcase, turning back into his squid form and quickly trying to escape to his friend who bore witness of it all.

"Hey! The case!" the loud voice roared, Alizarin popping up beside his friend while holding the briefcase.

"Jackpot," the red inkling grinned, thinking he had not been seen. The poor jellyfish got thrown aside, bouncing off his chair and into the floor. They saw the table get stomped in half by a large foot. A body in a business suit was partially revealed, his Z-shaped left eye shining bright yellow.

"Ali, th-this is wrong!" Cambridge complained. Suddenly a blast of liquid hit Alizarin in the back. He fell forward onto one knee, the suitcase sliding a bit ahead of him. His eyes were wide.

"Give it back. Now!" the deep voice continued stomping forward, the light being broken by him ripping it off the dangling thin wire in the ceiling.

"Guh… what's happening...? Cambridge, help…" Alizarin panted.

"A-Ali!" Cambridge saw what was happening. His friend's left leg and side of his chest was slightly melting. He had been hit by a burst of salt water, and he was horribly drained and shocked. Inklings were not meant to be exposed to salt water, or else a fateful splattering awaited them. No one had experimented to see what would happen if one was only exposed to salt water in small amounts.

"Hand it over, you squids, and ol' Crion'll let you leave and forget this ever happened," the mysterious man offered. Cambridge went for the briefcase immediately in an attempt to hand it over.

"He-here! I'm sorry, my-my friend is just… crazy!" he apologized profusely, bowing a little to Crion's presence. He watched a big hand reached out from the darkness, about to grab the briefcase. Suddenly, a wet t-shirt flew into his face.

"Gah! My eyes!" Crion shouted angrily, having gotten hit in the face by Alizarin's shirt which was covered in painfully stinging salt water.

"You're right I'm crazy… and I like to be crazy! Come on, we need to go… and I need you to carry me," Alizarin stated having stripped his shirt off just to try and get the salt water away from him. Cambridge initially did not want to, but at this point, Crion was no doubt going to do something horrible to them both if they stayed. The blue inkling went to his friend, putting the briefcase in his own tentacle's grip. He groaned, struggling to get Alizarin onto his back. He immediately ran off with both his friend and the case in tow, wanting to get as far away as possible.

"When I get my hands on you, I will rip your tentacles off!" the scary big figure called out to the distant runners, Jelek lying on the floor out cold from the hard throw.

"Wow… you're stronger than you look," Alizarin commented while holding onto his friend's back as they busted through one of the maintenance room doors. They were back out onto the second floor of the mall in seconds, continuing forth. The red squid could actually feel small muscles on his friend's body.

"Please save those comments for when you have a shirt on," Cambridge requested, still feeling terrified, even if they had gotten away while bashing their way between the crowded mall, reaching the escalator. The blue inkling just hunched forward, keeping his head down, Alizarin hanging on tighter. They could hear the other locals shout at them for bumping through.

"Hey!" "Watch it!" "Dumb kid! I should've tripped you!"

"Sorry! Sorry! Excuse us!" Cambridge spoke between the rushing, making sure not to lose the briefcase. Once at the bottom of the escalator, they made for the exit, not caring about all the odd looks they were receiving at this point. Safety was all that mattered.

"Whe-where do we go? What if he's following us?" the blue inkling requested some form of guidance from his half-dressed friend, who didn't seem to care. They had the briefcase of questionably obtained coin cards with 90 million coins on them.

"Well, I lost my shirt and you look ready to wet yourself in fear at the thought of some big guy that shouldn't be able to keep up with us. Let's head to the main plaza. We'll have some fun shopping… on me, of course. Once we get the lock off this thing. And hey, we can get Caitlyn and Mario while we're there to have a turf war or twelve," Alizarin described. Cambridge shook his head, still feeling quite horrible for being an assistant thief to him. He didn't care if the coin cards were stolen. Stealing from a thief was just as bad as general stealing, but with nowhere else in mind, Cambridge decided the main plaza was their best option. At least then maybe their other friends could be of help to this matter.

"Fine, bu-but we're using our own money for your new shirt," Cambridge declared while continuing the run far away from pearlymussel mall. His friend had a big grin across his face.

"See how much fun you'll have when you have a backbone?"


	4. Planning

Cambridge and Alizarin had made their way to the main plaza after one scary run from the mall. Once the red squid felt well enough to walk, he had climbed off his friend's back. The two walked to the main plaza, seeing the other squids around. The shirtless Alizarin was trying his hardest to break the lock off the briefcase, but had no luck. His best friend still felt horribly uncomfortable about this, feeling like they were being followed, even though there was no sign of that.

"While I go buy a shirt, you stay here and watch the case," Alizarin said, handing over the briefcase to his best friend who held it close to his chest and wrapped it up with his tentacles nervously in an attempt to cover it up.

"Alright, but please hurry… I feel like everyone is staring at me…" Cambridge claimed nervously. His friend walked up behind him and forced him to stand straight, making him remove his tentacles from the briefcase before forcing him to hold it normally.

"There's no charger laser on your forehead. Quit acting so scared and you won't get any looks. Just wait here, I texted Caitlyn and Mario and told'em to meet us here," Alizarin stated. The blue inkling was confused about that, wondering how he managed that considering one was supposedly sick from bad food and the other was taking care of her cousin.

"Um… al-alright, I guess… but how'd you manage that?" Cambridge asked. His friend showed his cellphone with a text message he had sent, and the messages that he had gotten in reply.

"Spyke is having a half off special since it is his birthday. Meet at main plaza – Alizarin"

The blue inkling then looked at the replies he had received.

"Oh my gosh, yes! – Caitlyn"

"We'll be there in 5. – Mario"

"Catch is, once they get here, you'll have to tell them what's going on," Alizarin stated, pocketing his cellphone before beginning to head toward the clothing store.

"Wait, what?!" Cambridge called out, not gaining a response as his friend walked into the shop, the door closing behind him. Cambridge sighed, feeling like he was being pushed around a lot lately. He planned to just tell the two cousins the truth once they arrived, taking a safe guess that they would be very miffed with the lie. Spyke was a special merchant in the main plaza who could replicate gear or change the bonuses given by said gear requested, but it was very pricy around 30,000 coins a purchase, so a 50% off sale was like a dream to any turf wars player, or any squid who knew the shady dealer.

Cambridge took a seat on a nearby bench and waited for a short time. Alizarin had not returned yet. It was usual for him to take his glorious time. Either that or he was just waiting here for the others to show up just so his dear friend could specifically handle the situation. The blue inkling noticed that the sun was beginning to set. The day passed by a lot quicker than he realized, but there still was plenty of time for a few turf wars.

"Dad… I don't know what to do…" Cambridge thought, looking at the three teeth dangling off the necklace. He cast his gaze at the locked briefcase beside him. Ninety-million coins in this tiny case in his hands that they had stolen. He hated knowing this, but for some reason, he had a feeling of excitement still in his body. Cambridge wondered if he had deep down enjoyed the criminal act. He was beginning to get lost in his train of thoughts that were leading him down a path of insanity in his own head.

"Hey! Are you alright?" he suddenly heard, feeling someone shaking him slightly. Cambridge looked over to his right to see two familiar squids. One had black tentacles done up into a big bow with purple at the end, and wore a pink beanie cap with a gold star on it and a pair of sunglasses while in a pink leather jacket.

"Do we need to shoot you with ink to wake you up?" a milk-white tentacle squid added, her voice coming from a medical mask that covered her mouth and nose. Her green-tinged hair were done up into a bow and angled to the right, covered by a green baseball cap. Her leather jacket was matching to her cousin's, just with a green and white color pattern to it.

"Oh, hey Caitlyn. Hi Mario… sorry, just trying to ward off an anxiety attack… again," Cambridge apologized to the two who he knew as friends but more so buddies of Alizarin's. He had no idea how they had met, but he did not mind. All the blue inkling could do is try his best to get along with them both, since the two were particularly nice after all, Caitlyn being happy go lucky and excited and her cousin Mario acting a bit lazier but serious.

"So what is so important that Alizarin had to lie to us to get us out here?" Mario knew that they were obviously lied to after they had responded to the texts. They knew Spyke well, and knew he would never have a sale. He was the only merchant doing his type of business. There was no competition, and therefore no need to make big sales.

"Oh… uh… this," Cambridge presented the briefcase with the lock on it. The two girls looked at it confusedly, Caitlyn taking it and putting it near her ear, shaking it like a mysterious Christmas gift.

"What's in it?" Caitlyn quirked, her cousin taking the briefcase before she broke whatever was in it. They saw the nervous look on their friend's face as he mentally pondered whether or not he should fill them in on it, or wait for his best friend to come along to help, but these two cousins were great with words and controlling a conversation whenever they wanted to. The blue inkling decided to just let them know about the contents of the case.

"Um… th-there's ninety million coins in it," Cambridge whispered to the two of them. The two cousins looked to one another with raised eyebrows before looking back at the briefcase.

"Oh, that's cool," Mario said as she handed the briefcase back over, acting uninterested. Caitlyn however was wondering how their friends became overnight millionaires, though Cambridge was guessing by how Mario was not appearing sick at all that they had lied to Alizarin earlier out of the awareness that he wanted a double date quite determinedly. They found it cute how desperate he was though, but they did not like to play around like that, especially when they saw the red inkling like a younger brother.

"Hey! Sorry I took so long," they heard, seeing Alizarin coming out of the clothing store, wearing a new bright pink, white striped shirt. He noticed all three of his friends looking to him, the two cousins confused, and Cambridge's expression asking for help to back him up here.

"So we hear you guys are now millionaires. How'd ya manage that?" Mario spoke up, pointing to the briefcase the blue inkling was holding tightly in his hands.

"Oh that? We stole from a thief," Alizarin claimed with no shame. He almost sounded like he was completely filled with pride over it. His blue friend was sweating bullets.

"Wait, what?" Caitlyn chirped, wondering if she had heard him correctly.

"I-I don't know. One second we're following someone who had bullied us. Th-the next thing, Ali's stealing a briefcase full of coin cards and angering a scary voiced man," Cambridge explained, not exactly depicting his dear friend in the brightest of spotlights but as an antihero. This was a private business matter that they had interrupted. It didn't matter if they were thieves or criminals. They just stole a huge amount of coins and could face a lot of trouble from the legal system and their parents.

"Gee, thanks for telling them everything, Cambridge. You're about as subtle as a super sea snail in a salad," Alizarin commented, not exactly enjoying the way he was described there. His blue squid friend looked down a bit in shame, but his guilt was more talking than anything.

"Why am I not surprised?" Mario sighed while holding her head with one of her hands.

"Wow… just… we have to tell the police," Caitlyn insisted, though they were making sure no inklings were listening in on their conversation. She did not want to have to deal with lying their way through these matters.

"Ye-yeah. That's what I said," Cambridge nodded. His best friend yanked the briefcase out of his hands.

"No way, you guys! The cops will take the coins and leave us with the problems. I'd get better results telling a random squid off the street we stole coin cards and dumping it down a storm drain if I wanted that to happen," Alizarin angrily replied. He did have a point somewhat. The three of them had personal poor experience with authorities in some sense. They knew there were a good few corrupt who would gladly make off with several coin cards for their own personal gain.

"Ugh… if you two get arrested, leave us out of it, alright?" Mario requested, not wanting to be involved and arrested. She and her cousin were rich already, so they did not really want anything to do with their millions of coins when they had plenty of their own.

"Ye-yes, ma'am," Cambridge nodded, Caitlyn giggling at how timidly polite he tried to be.

"Look… how about we all go have a few turf wars to take our minds off it?" Caitlyn suggested. All of them agreed, especially Cambridge who was aware that his friend still was most likely thinking he had no spine.

"Who can we leave the briefcase with?" the blue inkling asked, doubting it was right to be carrying a briefcase around all of their matches in turf wars. It would also be harder to fight while carrying it with one hand, the other hand struggling to operate a weapon.

"We can leave it with Judd," Mario claimed as they walked toward the huge battle tower, the giant great zapfish being wrapped around it supplying power to all of Inkopolis. When it had gone missing for a few days, most of Inkopolis believed they had taken the giant electric creature for granted and wound up throwing a big celebration to show their gratitude when it had returned with the many baby zapfish. The famous Squid Sisters, Callie and Marie, got everyone on board with this idea. It was like a splatfest almost, but Cambridge knew something weird was going on, but he was glad that nothing bad had occurred.

"Really? I didn't know he'd be that nice. He does sleep all day," Alizarin commented as they got in front of the battle tower. Beside of it on a small pillow on a podium was Judd, an anthropomorphic cat, with a great eye for telling how much turf was covered, whose black and white fur was shaped in a fashion to look like overalls.

"You just have to ask," Caitlyn hummed, lightly stroking the cat's back, hearing Judd yawn before he sat up.

"Oh hey girls," Judd greeted the two, almost like he knew the cousins on a deeper level.

"We need a favor, Judd. Can you watch over this until we're done playing?" Mario requested, presenting the briefcase. The cat sighed, taking it.

"Fine, but what do I get out of this?" Judd questioned, wondering why he should watch something that was nearly as big as him. Even if it was light, he still felt weird to have to guard it.

"Catnip. A lot of it," the two cousins said, well in sync as they often were, even if they didn't intend on it. Judd got a big smile, nodding rapidly. That was all he needed. Cambridge followed the other three inside, ready to have a fun time with his friends, though he felt like a nervous wreck, as today really was not his best day.

"Time to paint some turf!"


	5. Bet

The sun was setting as the four had all made their way into the battle tower, where many other squids around inside were all talking with their teammates or other random inklings to have fun with. The turf war locations currently were Mahi Mahi Resort and Blackbelly Skate Park, two decent locations in their own regards. Cambridge though noticed the all too familiar dragon inkling nearby talking to some of her all too familiar goons. Kreon had her back turned to the blue inkling.

"Um… guys, you get on the battle platform. I'll be there in a second," Cambridge said, leaving his three friends momentarily to approach her, having something he needed to say to her.

"And the next thing I know, he's crying and begging me not to splatter him or make him lose his rank," Kreon finished telling a story from a couple days ago, and her three friends burst into laughter. Another poor squid lost their rank because of the pure unfair match up against her. It was horrible to lose a rank, but not the end of the world. Most squids were out to have fun in turf wars and wouldn't care if they won or lost. Only the most dedicated and serious of players would take a fun sport to such seriousness that it hurt.

"Um, excuse me," Cambridge spoke up. These weren't any of the squids he had seen with the dragon squid earlier, which was odd. She turned around to face him, not looking happy to see him again.

"Oh… it's you again," Kreon said flatly in a blunt tone, the major amount of hatred mostly emanating off the similarly faced friends of hers.

"What do you want you brat?" she watched as the blue inkling rummaged around his pockets a bit before he pulled out the green scale he had gotten after saving her life, he assumed it had fallen off when he had tackled her to the ground out of the way of that car.

"Sorry, uh… you dropped this and I wa-wanted to give this back to you," Cambridge claimed, offering the green scale back to her. The dragon inkling stuck out her very long reptilian tongue, curling it up into a spring like shape.

"What kind of sick pervert are you to go gathering a girl's scales?" Kreon retorted mockingly. This was quite the strangest taunt he heard in a while, but it made a small blush go onto his face. He did not ever expect to be labelled that just for trying to give back something.

"I-I didn't! It fell off, and you left to the mall before I could give it to you. Just take it, please. My friends are waiting on me to play a turf war," Cambridge begged, continuing to hold the scale out to her. She retracted her tongue, gaining a devious smile upon hearing this.

"Did you say a turf war?" Kreon had a bright grin across her face, and a scary eager look in her eyes. She snapped her fingers, and one of the three inklings around her immediately rummaged around their bag before pulling out a weird sized yellow tube. A button was hit, and it extended by two extra lengths, both down and up, and a bunch of bristles appeared at the top. It was like a giant artist's paint brush. Kreon took it as another friend put an ink tank on her back.

"Meep!" Cambridge squealed in fear, feeling greatly intimidated. Even if this inkling was only a self-proclaimed ink brush master, this was clearly a custom made weapon for speed, like a sword mistress on a battlefield, and her just holding it in this prideful matter was greatly intimidating.

Kreon took the scale from him and leaned onto her thin ink brush, yawning as she raised it to her mouth before crunching into the scale with one of her sharp teeth, creating a rectangular slit. She walked behind Cambridge and began to fiddle with his necklace.

"Hey, th-this necklace is very important to me. Please don't touch it," he sheepishly requested. After a few seconds, he saw the scale slide down beside the right longest tooth before his necklace was reattached. She walked around to his front.

"Consider it a gift from someone very great. I want to make a bet with you, mister," Kreon requested his name while leaning forward toward him.

"Cam-Cambridge! Cambridge Verlegen…" Cambridge spoke his name, trying to at least be polite, but he was quite terrified at the moment and not sure how to feel with his new addition to his necklace. It made him look like he gathered parts off other inklings like some sort of sick grave robber. If she wasn't the only dragon squid in Inkopolis, he would definitely be gaining some odd inquiries.

"Let's make a bet. Since you owe me one after all for hurting me earlier. I'll challenge you to a turf war, just my squad versus yours. If I win, you become my personal assistant for 5 years," Kreon stated. How she proclaimed it felt more like she was trying to make him a slave.

"Wh-what?! Why would I do that? What would I even get for winning?" Cambridge gulped. The S+ ranked dragon scratched her head and shrugged.

"I'unno, if you somehow by the skin of a miracle beat me in a turf war, I'll teach you how to master an ink brush yourself. Only an idiot uses any other type of weapons, like a barbarian," Kreon spoke the first thing in mind. Cambridge shook his head, sweating like a waterfall, and after trying to be nice, too. He was starting to wonder if there was no such thing as simple anymore in this hideously insane world.

"Wh-why should I do this?! Why can't we just have fun?" Cambridge requested. Kreon grabbed his cheeks.

"But this is fun! You owe me after all, remember? What kind of parents don't teach their squiddie how to pay back someone you owe?" Kreon asked. She let go of him and went to make her way toward her battle platform with the three inklings following her. Whether he liked it or not, Cambridge had been forced into a bet against her. He just began to walk toward his friends, feeling like he had lost part of his mind, the blue inkling looking at his now upgraded necklace.

"Oh, dad, give me strength…" he muttered while stepping up on the platform beside his friends, who thankfully they had all been talking to each other. While waiting after a few seconds, the platform was covered by a glass container, and it filled up with blue ink. One container full, and the blue ink began to drain away, the four of them within it ready to start the turf war.

They all reappeared in Mahi Mahi Resort. From where they stood they could see the huge stage before them, the rising and falling waters, raising platforms, the nice wooden elegance to the area, the huge squid shaped pool with guests relaxing in it and acting as if the turf war about to occur was going to be for their entertainment.

"You alright, man? You look nervous," Alizarin asked his best friend.

"Ye-yeah. Don't worry about me, let's just win," Cambridge nodded, glad they didn't notice his new addition to his necklace thus far. He had his jet squelcher equipped and an ink tank on his back filled with blue ink. He had little experience with most weaponry. A lot of inklings could operate a wide variety of weapons and just pick whatever they felt like using at the time. Sadly, Cambridge wasn't one of those types. He only used the jet squelcher because it was the only thing he used decently on the battle field.

"Yeah!" Caitlyn cheered in agreement, her krak-on roller ready, while her cousin Mario had her splatterscope prepared. Alizarin had his slosher deco ready to go. They waited, and after a few seconds, they heard the alarm blare, and all four of them took off in separate directions, painting as much area as they could along the way.

Kreon sat on one of the upper platforms of the resort, feeling the drifting water swaying the floorboards beneath her. She leaned back, yawning as she lay flat on her back atop the board, letting the gentle waves rock her.

"Dude! Watch out!" she heard one of her teammates shout, the dragon squid seeing a charger laser suddenly affixed at her leg, only because that was the only thing available at the moment to hit. Kreon decided to stand back up, sighing.

"Shut up, you're gonna give me a headache," the green squid ordered, hearing the sound of the charger echo from being fired. She grabbed her teammate by his tentacles, yanking him painfully in front of her.

"Gaah!" he got hit by the blast of blue ink, and was splattered into a puddle of blue goo. Kreon jumped down onto the lower section. She looked around, finding no one so far.

"Surprise!" Caitlyn suddenly jumped out from the ink, her roller was raised high, having hidden in it as her squid form to get the surprise attack.

"And I thought the idiots I call teammates were a headache," Kreon huffed, gaining a grin as she jumped back, watching the roller slam on the ground before her, kicking up more blue ink. She swung her brush once, hitting Caitlyn in the face with green ink. While it stung a lot, her sunglasses protected her eyes, but now they were covered in the ink.

"Wow you are really mean," Caitlyn growled, unable to see through the thick ink. She grabbed her sunglasses and pocketed them with a glare. Her eyes looked odd though. They were large and angular in the shape of a plus.

"Oh wow… it's you," Kreon smiled, "That must mean the one taking pot shots at me with the worst accuracy ever is…"

Another charger shot rang out. She changed into her squid form and dove into a pool of green ink as the shot missed hitting the ground. The black inkling tried to stay focused and keep aware, hoping her cousin was still watching her back. Suddenly she felt a chill shoot down her spine.

"The Squid Sisters in my humble turf war. I'll do you a favour and make sure you're splatted only a dozen times," Kreon spoke from behind her. Callie's disguise had sadly fallen apart with such ease. Those fake names Caitlyn and Mario were the only disguise names the Squid Sisters could come up with after all.

"Good one!" Callie sarcastically said, spinning around and swinging her roller like an overweight sword, while Kreon swung with her brush. They collided and bounced off each other before they both spun around and clashed their weapons again. They were slinging blue and green ink all over themselves and on the area around them. It was actually surprising to the Squid Sister. That ink brush looked thin, yet Kreon had to be pretty strong to match her roller.

"Ahh!" Callie squealed in shock, losing her footing and slipping in the ink from one of her cousin's missed blasts. She landed back first onto the ink. She could do nothing more as she saw the ink brush swing downward at her. With one slash, Callie was splattered into a puddle of green ink.

"Heheheh… you guys go get Marie. I wanna go hunt the blue one," Kreon ordered her two comrades. While they waited for their teammate to respawn, the green dragon inkling changed into her squid form before launching into the air with a super jump, letting her teammates begin working on covering the area. The Squid Sisters' disguises busted and their secret was out. The two always snuck into turf wars, normally to just prerecord footage at their studio to give them all the free time they wanted.

From afar, the other Squid Sister, Marie, huffed before beginning to move, irritated that she had to change charger positions. She hoped their friends wouldn't find out who they were, but that was most likely hoping for too much. This turf war had only just begun and already it looked rough for the blue team. Kreon wanted to fight rather than cover turf, as though she felt there was a better thrill in the battle than the fun itself.


	6. Cheating

Cambridge and Alizarin were at another part of Mahi Mahi Resort, spraying everywhere they could in their team's blue ink. They saw two enemy inklings up ahead, their green tentacles prominent. One had an E-liter 3k charger and another had a rapid blaster. They both immediately took aim at them, the blue squid freezing up in surprise.

"I got this," Alizarin grinned, hitting a button on his slosher deco. He changed into his squid form and began to grow in size. He had become the invincible kraken, one of many special abilities in these weapons. The green inklings began to fire their blobs of green ink trying to hit Cambridge, who was taking cover by hiding behind a long white tanning chair that was then coated green fast.

"Yeah! Yo-you got this!" Cambridge cheered for his friend to the best of his ability. The red kraken began to swim toward the enemy, leaving a blue trail of ink behind him. The green squids looked terrified, the first one trying to run when he got grabbed by one of Alizarin's tentacles, being crushed in his grip and being instantly splattered. The charger wielding squid was about to try and super jump to base to retreat. However, she got crushed under another tentacle, being splattered into a puddle of blue ink as well.

"Nice work," Cambridge said as his friend changed back into his regular inkling form. Alizarin had a bright smile as he continued to toss the blue ink everywhere. The blue inkling had his special weapon ready, so he hit a button on his jet squelcher, and suddenly a big pad appeared in front of him with a big inkstrike missile on his back, ready to cause a huge explosion of blue ink to cover a lot of turf wherever it was aimed.

"Grah!" Alizarin suddenly got splattered into green ink. His best friend felt his heart sink upon hearing a familiar voice.

"Hey you," Kreon hummed, standing beside him with her inkbrush behind her head with her arms resting on it. She had gotten the sneak attack on them and now it was just her and the blue inkling. Cambridge was about to tap the pad's screen to launch the inkstrike, but then it got kicked out of his hands and clattered to the ground, breaking in half.

"Uh oh…" Cambridge saw the inkstrike launch high into the air. It kept going high up into the sky. Normally they would change angles to crash into the targeted area, but this one just appeared to be launching as high as it could.

"Um… h-hi, Kreon," he awkwardly greeted her, taking a few steps back while pulling his jet squelcher off his side and aiming it at her. His ink tank was only half full of their team's blue ink, but he was more than glad to use every last drop in it to splatter her. He felt terrified to be against an S+ ranked inkling who was so fast and sneaky, and barely had broken a sweat.

"Seems my team's winning so far, but I have to admit, I'm impressed," Kreon exclaimed, "Not just anyone can get the squid sisters on their team."

"Wha-what?" Cambridge was confused. He shook his head, not understanding all of this. If this was a confusing mind game, then it sure was working at confusing him. He decided to take advantage of this distraction and opened fire, beginning to shoot blue ink at her. Kreon just quickly brandished her inkbrush and began spinning it rapidly like a shield, blocking or smacking away the blotches of ink and making them splatter harmlessly to the ground.

"Whoa…" the blue squid gulped, hearing his jet squelcher clicking. He was out of ink, all of his ammo having been blocked by her with minimal effort. He probably could have thought this plan through better rather than just trying to sneakily attack her.

"Rude! Attacking a girl while she's trying to talk all civil. Didn't your parents teach you any manners?" Kreon hissed, showing a wide grin. Like a beast, she leaped right at him. He froze, closing his eyes and standing in place, expecting to be splattered at this very moment. However, he only felt the light brushing of the bristles against his skin.

"Huh?" Cambridge opened his eyes. There was no green ink from her ink brush.

"What the-?! Why isn't it splatting you?!" the dragon squid angrily continued to brush him with the bristle. Instead, her opponent laughed and giggled.

"Sto-stop it! That tickles!" Cambridge laughed. Kreon looked angrier than before. She looked down to find the problem. The connector that had been feeding her weapon ink from her ink tank had been cut in half and now without any ammo to use, it couldn't be classified as a weapon anymore.

"You cheater! You sabotaged my weapon!" Kreon pointed an accusing finger at him. Cambridge however noticed that his jet squelcher also had its connector tube cut as well. His weapon was in the same position of worth as hers.

"W-wait! N-no I didn't! Mine's messed up too. I'd never cheat…" the blue inkling shook his head, denying that he cheated, even if he had the opportunity to do it. Suddenly they heard a weird noise both of them looking up and seeing that very inkstrike that had been launched, coming right for them.

"Oh, crabcakes," Kreon glared at the blue inkling. Cambridge had no chance to run as she grabbed him by his tentacles and pulled him to her, wrapping her arm around his neck.

"Let me go! No!" he cried.

"No way! You cheated, like I said! Good game, though. I admire the underhanded tactics," the dragon squid complimented, not letting him out of her grasp as the ink strike hit, exploding into a great typhoon of blue ink which engulfed them both and splattered them instantly, covering the entire area in blue ink. Afterwards, a loud whistle blared. It was the end of the round right on that note.

Cambridge reappeared back at the starting point of the match. He saw Callie and Marie who were talking to each other away from him, and Alizarin who was sitting on the ground tiredly. The two boys still had no clue to their identities yet. They saw Judd appear, the briefcase on his back as he coughed.

"The winner is…" just as the judge was about to announce it, a loud voice spoke up.

"Nobody wins!" that voice was all too familiar to the blue squid and his best friend. They saw the all too familiar blue woman in a black suit, equipped with an odd weapon on her side.

"You're all in trouble… oh, and hi, honey," she greeted them.

"Mo-mom?!" Cambridge's jaw dropped. He watched his mother come over to Judd and present him a badge that was like a golden squid medallion. They watched as the green team came over, their tentacles reverting back to their original colors.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" the young inkling asked his mother as she pocketed the medallion. Judd went away now that no one was a winner in this round. Callie and Marie had a bad feeling about what this meant. The two of them quickly put their disguises back on.

"I told you I had a new job now. You see, I'm a worker for the turf war officials," Zaffre stated. Just like that, everyone was scared. The turf war officials were just as they sounded, the ones who monitored all turf war activities. They were a law in and of their own. They didn't care about much of anything other than the turf wars they upheld, and they were very strict on matters.

"Oh good, an official. And it's the mommy to this poor wittle squishie. Your son cheated and cut my ink tanks connector tube!" Kreon presented her damaged ink tank as evidence, Cambridge shaking his head and taking his own off his back to show its damage as well.

"N-no! I really didn't! Mine's been cut apart too…" the blue inkling's son added. However, both of their ink tanks got ripped out of their hands. Zaffre threw them downward on the ground, breaking them both into a million pieces.

"We're boned," Alizarin whispered to his two friends. Zaffre yawn and cracked her neck.

"Alright. All eight of you are being detained to be interrogated. Whatever punishment you receive will be handed down by a turf official judge, so if you'll just calmly drop your weapons and come with me… Actually, no, I'd like to fight someone right now," Zaffre grinned, crackling her knuckles. Cambridge did as they were ordered, dropping the jet squelcher, hearing everyone else's weapons clattering to the ground as well. Kreon huffed, reluctantly letting her ink brush topple over as she crossed her arms.

"Grandpa's gonna be mad…" Callie whimpered.

"Calm down," Marie patted her cousin's back as Zaffre began to walk ahead, the eight of them following. Someone else would be along to take their weapons into holding as well, Cambridge had no idea that his mother's new job would be acting as a cop for turf wars. All he could hope for was that his punishment would not be too severe. However, he noticed a huge piercing glare coming from Kreon aimed at him.

"You are in so much trouble you little brat," the dragon squid hissed, but then felt a hard smack in the back of the head, yelping in surprise.

"No talking!" the turf war official ordered. Zaffre wanted to just punish a bratty kid and get away with it. Cambridge stayed quiet, looking to his three friends and hoping things would be alright, though they had no clue what would await any of the eight poor squids involved in this supposed cheating.

"I have the worst luck lately…"


	7. Interrogate

Cambridge found himself in an uncomfortable position in a small room with completely blank walls. He sat behind a wooden table, the only furniture in the whole room. It was not really a prison to his eyes. He had followed his mother into this building with several other squids both from his team and the enemy team. He really never thought he would be in this position. The officials were quite a well-known terrifying force. For any rule breaker out there, they were going to have a hand in dealing out punishment. Even their minor punishments were immensely scary, according to rumors, though the blue inkling as well as many others had never seen any of these punishments actually take place.

Cambridge just looked down at his necklace, the one scale dangling beside the three teeth. He decided he would not mess with the new trinket to his necklace. He was starting to realize that ever since he met that dragon squid, his luck had taken a poor turn. He didn't want to throw her scale away either, as he felt she had gone through the effort to put it on his necklace.

"Alright sir. He's in here," the blue squid heard, snapping out of his train of thought. He saw his mother enter the room. Alongside her was an elderly person with short and messy white tentacles and a black short beard, wearing a grey suit and with a back brace attached. Only one eye was opened and viewable.

"These are the two sons of yours, Zaffre?" the elder asked. Zaffre reached into the old squid's front pocket and pulled out his monocle, putting it on his left eye.

"This is my son, Cambridge. Honey, this is mister Navajo, my boss," the blue squid's mother introduced them. Cambridge shook hands with the elder who took a seat across from him, while Zaffre closed the door, standing guard.

"So… yo-you run all of the turf of-officials' business?" Cambridge asked while the elder began to skim through a book that looked older than he was, with pages filled with writing in various penmanship styles.

"No squiddy boy I'm just one of seven who run this whole deal. If your mother wasn't a worker of mine, I'd come here completely quiet," Navajo shook his head. Cambridge did not know whether that was good or bad. One thing for sure was that he was afraid of this elder. The room was in an awkward silence while he flipped through the many pages until he suddenly came to a stop, one of his tentacles holding the correct page.

"Lessee here… Cambridge Verlegen, on the side of the blue team that was winning that round. You are being accused of sabotaging another inkling's weapon during a turf war by an enemy on the green team that was going to lose after being interviewed. Kreon Zuwala claimed that you damaged your own weapon to make you look innocent. How do you plea to these charges?" Navajo questioned. This was somewhat like a trial but without a jury, it was just a very objective elder. Certainly a lot of the workers for the turf war officials had to be if they wanted to get their work done. Otherwise no one would fear them and therefore more would cheat. Zaffre stayed quiet, not moving at all. She hated to see her son so afraid, but she couldn't go being her normal aggressive self at work without running the risk of being fired. She hoped her child understood that.

"…not guilty?" Cambridge hesitantly chirped. After a few silently intense seconds, Navajo began flipping through his pages with his tentacle, trying to find one specific page with his monocle covered eye.

"As result of the ink tanks being the only evidence which have been destroyed, and the parts supposedly sabotaged was torn up, we as the turf officials must take this as an assumed sabotage from a third party of some cruel joke to ruin a turf war," the elder squid described before he began to rummage around in his pocket. He pulled out a very tiny hammer, lightly tapping on the coaster resting on the table.

"I pronounce Cambridge Verlegen not guilty of being accused. However, he shall be fined a 10,000-coin fee," Navajo declared before pocketing his tiny hammer. Cambridge felt a wave of relief wash over him. They watched one of the higher up turf officials leave. The blue squid ran up and hugged his mother, who happily returned his embrace, wrapping him up in her tentacles. The two watched as her boss left the room

"Hehe… and you thought I was gonna leave you high and dry like that?" Zaffre joked. She had purposely broken the ink tanks that were tampered with to save her son from any false punishment. If there was one thing she knew, it was that her son was not a cheater. They broke their hug and both walked out of the room, Cambridge seeing a lot of others working quite hard at the moment, and various inklings coming and going through the building.

"Thanks again, mom. What about my friends?" Cambridge questioned. He had not seen them in some time and now it was dark outside, judging from the few windows he could see as they passed by them.

"Alizarin got splattered before the cheating happened, so they ruled him out as a suspect and sent him home. The Squid Sisters, grandpa and best friend came and picked them up after they got interviewed," Zaffre explained. Her son stopped in his place, tilting his head and scratching one of his tentacles, confused.

"Wait. When did the Squid Sisters get into our turf war? Me and Ali entered with Caitlyn and Mario…" Cambridge remembered that Kreon implied this, and he still didn't understand. His mother gave him a straight faced look, wondering if he was being serious.

"You got my muscles, but your father's brain and heart… your friends Caitlyn and Mario are Callie and Marie. I can't believe I have to tell you this. I mean I knew months ago that they were the Squid Sisters since that one time we had them over for a big dinner," Zaffre explained, thoroughly to her son that he and his best friend had been missing all of the most obvious signs in the entire world that they were the Squid Sisters. Their personality and way they acted alone should have been huge giveaways. Zaffre was glad her son had good friends at least. Callie and Marie were probably the only pop stars in existence who did not act spoiled rotten with their huge amounts of wealth, as they cared for their fans quite a lot.

"Oh…" Cambridge looked embarrassed to have not come upon this realization sooner. The two of them walked a bit until they passed by one room. Kreon was in there, sitting in the same position with Navajo.

"Wait, we can see through parts of those walls?" Cambridge quirked, his mother escorting him over. There was a one-way window to let people outside see the inside, but not the other way around. They could even hear over a recording setup that was prepared to record each interview.

"Yeah. Let's listen in," Zaffre grinned. After all, he was her son. No one would complain if they believed he was trustworthy by her admission.

"Even if you weren't born in Inkopolis, you will be treated as any other squid in my eye of judgement. So how do you plead?" Navajo asked while looking over the book. Cambridge could see part of the book from here which had writing, like a small file on the dragon squid herself. He gave it a further read. It claimed that her relationship with her parents was disowned and their location was unknown, and that her hometown was called Tentilium Village. The blue inkling had no idea about this place or ever heard it before.

"Not guilty! I told you the last three times!" Kreon slammed her knuckles on the desk. The elder adjusted his monocle, rubbing his head as he turned the page of the book before Cambridge could read any more.

"Hm… alright. With the evidence sadly terminated due to a new turf official operative's anger issues, you will be fined 10,000 coins," Navajo gave her the same verdict that he had given Cambridge. The green dragon squid sighed, thankful it was over, standing up and about to head out the door.

"However, you have other charges against you that will be addressed here so we can save you time and meetings later," he said. Kreon sat back down, giving the meanest glare Cambridge had ever seen so far.

"What charges?" she responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, this should be good," Zaffre grinned, wanting to see what one of her bosses would do. These trials went by so fast and were objective too. Cambridge wondered how many charges this S+ ranked girl could have.

"Well, you have a good few charges. For starters, you are under suspicion for fighting C- ranked squids when you're S+, which is against the extended learning opportunity, also known as ELO, for newcomers to ranked turf wars, but there is no evidence to back those claims, and this charge is old," Navajo begun, adjusting his monocle. He got to the new charges that were a lot weirder than they expected. Cambridge looked to his mother, wondering what exactly was going to occur.

"What else?" Kreon requested for him to cut to the point. The elder coughed, looking over the page.

"You've also been accused of theft of weaponry and coins, abusing teammates and using them as personal aids to cheating, and conducting sexual activities during a turf war. These are the charges laid against you. Do you understand?" Navajo questioned. Kreon's eyes were wide and her jaw was dropped. Cambridge and Zaffre looked to each other over this. This was not what they expected to hear at all.

"Wha? Who do you think I am?! I am Kreon Zuwala! The dragon squid, and the one and only one in Inkopolis! I have done none of those things! Not guilty! I plead not guilty!" Kreon shouted, pounding the table hard enough to actually leave a dent in the desk. She panted afterwards, looking like she was about to lose her mind. Her eye was twitching in fury.

"Well I'm sorry, Ms. Zuwala, but as result of these charges, none of which have evidence backing them up but they still cannot be ignored, I hereby revoke your status of S+ and reset your rank to B," Navajo declared, banging his tiny hammer on the coaster as if this meeting was over. Kreon just stayed seated there, staring off into space as the elder official began to leave. Once he was gone, Zaffre noticed Cambridge walking into the room.

"Are you okay?" Cambridge questioned, not hiding that he had just heard what had happened. His mother decided not to be involved. Her son had to handle his own matters with those who acted like rude bullies or stuck up brats, and she had to put some trust and faith in him.

"All… that work… my rank… gone… it took ten months to get my rank," Kreon's face slumped down against the desk, Cambridge going over and helping her up.

"I'm sorry… did you really do any of that stuff?" Cambridge had to ask. She instantly turned her head to him with that piercing glare on him that was a good enough answer to him. He was not trying to be rude but he really was not good in these matters at all.

"First all my coins get stolen from my bank account, and now this…" Kreon sniffled. This was the first time he had seen her genuinely upset.

"My home isn't far from the main plaza. Would you like to come over to spend the night?" Cambridge offered, though aware that she despised him quite a lot, or maybe she didn't he had no clue he was horrible at reading others. The two began to make their way out of the room.

"Fine… I can't afford the subway anyway," Kreon sighed. Zaffre, having listened and watched the two from the outside, stood there rubbing her own head, not wanting to even tolerate someone who acted so stuck up, but she had to just because of her son trying to take responsibility and be nice.

"Why does my son get involved with so many weirdos' lives?"


	8. Setup

Cambridge and Kreon had just finished eating dinner at his apartment. Zaffre was in her room, taking a shower in her bathroom. The sun had long since fallen and it was around nine in the evening. The dragon squid was suffering depression. After she got to the blue inkling's home, she took some time to try and call up her friends on her cellphone, all of which immediately turned down her phone calls while others had blocked her phone number, as if losing her S+ rank wasn't enough to take her happiness away. The blue squid felt horrible for her, no matter how rude she was. He doubted she deserved to be treated like this, though he did not want to tell her that most likely her friends only stuck around with her because of her insanely high rank. That would be just like taking a hand full of salt and throwing it in her eyes.

"I guess the food was tolerable," Kreon stated. Cambridge was glad that she didn't mind, but also glad that his mother did not hear that. She did not need more reasons to hate the dragon inkling and any excuse to toss her out was welcome, but she was respecting her son's decision to invite her over.

"You said you lost coins, too? What do you mean by that?" Cambridge requested while bringing her a cup of mint leaf tea, hoping that maybe she would like it or at least help cheer her up. The dragon squid sighed, taking the cup. She did not just sip it, but chugged the entire tea down.

"For the last few months, my bank account randomly loses a couple of million coins. It was about to ten million a month ago, but a few days ago, I got a call saying that I made a withdrawal of eighty million coins over the span of that day. My entire savings, gone! I figured that it would be handled, but now I'm left with just over two thousand coins," Kreon explained about how someone had been robbing her of coins. She had hoped that the bank or authorities would look into it, but judging by the huge amounts that went by and were now gone before the bank put a stop on withdrawals being made, it probably meant the authorities and bank were not going to be useful at this point.

"Wait… ninety million coins in total?" Cambridge tilted his head.

"Yes… ninety million coins," Kreon nodded. The blue inkling was actually glad that Alizarin stole those coins from Jelek now, though he was wondering how to inform his frenemy of this.

"Th-that jellyfish you had with you the other day. You see, me and Ali saw him tr-trying to give a case full of coin cards to some scary ma-man..." Cambridge exclaimed. She stood up and got front of him. A nerve had seemingly been struck so hard it was nearly cut in half.

"What?! Jelek?! That was the only jellyfish I let in my entire posse, and he does this to me?! Get your weapon. We're going to hunt him down, as well as my money!" she exclaimed. It was scary how determined she was and how fast her mood had changed.

"Wai-wait! Alizarin has the coin case. Le-let me just call him up and yo-you can get your coins back wi-without fighting," the blue inkling stated in fear. He watched her grab his cup of tea from his hands and chug it down as well, and then she tossed the cup aside, hearing it shatter on the wall. He kept looking at her, mostly afraid of her built up fury.

"And you were going to take my coins instead of telling me?" Kreon asked.

"N-no!" Cambridge rapidly shook his head, "I just didn't get a chance to-to tell you! An-and it's not like we knew they were yours!"

"You could've told me when we talked at the battle tower!" she roared, not calming down over this no matter how much Cambridge spoke in his own defence.

"We-well, you called me a pervert wh-when we last talked! I didn't get a-a chance," Cambridge stated. She huffed, seeming to get the message that he had to call his best friend, so she walked into the kitchen. Cambridge immediately stepped out of his apartment into the hallway and pulled out his cellphone, pulling up his red friend's phone number speed dialling him. He put the phone up to his pointy ear and waited.

"Yo, talk to me," Alizarin picked up. There was a sound of running water coming from the phone.

"Hey, Ali. Uh, are you doing the dishes?" Cambridge asked. He could tell by the light echo that he was on speaker phone.

"No, I'm in the bath. What's up?" the red inkling answered. The blue squid sighed, somewhat questioning why all of the people he was friends with were weird. At least Alizarin wasn't shy to talk, no matter what.

"Do you still have the briefcase with the coin cards?" Cambridge requested, though he hoped his friend had not left it with the judge when they got abruptly taken away by Zaffre at the end of their turf war due to the suspected cheating.

"Yep, I got it from Judd on my way home… I'unno man, I'm just still trying to take in the fact Caitlyn and Mario are actually Callie and Marie," Alizarin said, still trying to wrap his head around that information, though that unfortunately seemed to just be another reason to him to try and get a double date with the two girls. The blue squid could even know that much, and it was deeply unsettling to him.

"Can you bring it over? Please, it's important," he requested from his best friend.

"What? Why? Did you finally change your mind and wanna split it in half?" Alizarin quirked, eager at the thought of his friend's changing heart and wanting to split the coins down the middle for both of them.

"N-no! I found their rightful owner. She's at my place. Just please bring it over," Cambridge pleaded. He heard his friend sigh in irritation.

"Really? Of course, you got no spine to steal money, and now you have to go finding its owner," Alizarin huffed, the sound of water splashing emanating from him changing positions while in the bath.

"I-I'm doing the right thing! I never wanted to take money, but you did! Just please bring it over. I don't want to have to send her your way. It wi-will cause nothing but a big inky mess," Cambridge ended the phone call, pocketing his cellphone. He held his head after one of the few times he attempted to argue with his best friend, which he was not good at. The blue inkling opened the door and went back inside his apartment. All he could do now is wait for his friend to arrive and hope that he and the dragon squid did not kill each other.

Alizarin stepped out of the bathroom of his apartment once he had finished his bath, wearing a white shirt top that had a black stripe going over the shoulder. The red inkling quickly noticed that the lights were all out while he was putting his tentacles up behind his head with the crown hair band.

"Dad? You put the lights off again?" Alizarin called out to the dark. His dad sometimes turned off the lights when he felt like there were too many on, but not all lights. This was a bit unsettling, but the red squid presumed his adoptive father was just going to bed early and made the rooms dark. The young squid boy made his way to his bedroom, where his computer was set up nearby on the desk with a swivel chair in front of it, and he had a single bed against the wall and a balcony outside to view the area from his apartment. There was also a bookshelf full of various sized books.

"Guess it's best to take it now," Alizarin pulled out a bunch of the books. The briefcase full of coin cards that was still locked was set up right in the back. He figured there was no better place to hide it than behind books. He never bothered to read anyway. The red inkling took the briefcase and began to make his way down the hall and to the kitchen, wanting to grab himself a soda for the walk.

"Huh?" Alizarin quirked, confused. His foot just kicked something that he heard tap against the cabinet. He reached down and picked it up, examining the item closely.

"A knife…?" the red inkling confusedly spoke. Holding it gave him a sense of dread and uneasiness. Holding a knife always did that ever since his horrible incident with his mother. He missed his family a lot and still had a lot of trouble getting out of the past. He began to notice something on the knife, but he couldn't tell what.

Suddenly, Alizarin felt something wrap around his throat. He gasped, dropping the knife, feeling a pair of big arms choking him. He tried to smack the person strangling him with the briefcase still in his arms, but he couldn't hit. He was picked up off the ground, kicking frantically and gasping for breath, feeling his consciousness fading in and out. After a brief few moments, he fell unconscious and out of breath, but the assailant released him, letting his unconscious body collapse onto the floor.

"Sorry," an oddly high-ish low pitched voice spoke, reaching down and grabbing the briefcase. Both of his hands were covered by pairs of leather gloves. He picked up the knife as well. It was dull and had blue blood on it already. The figure in dark crouched down, putting it in the red inkling's hand before closing his fingers tightly around it.

"Time to go," the anonymous voice spoke, pulling the nearby phone off the receiver and letting it dangle off the cord. He dialled 911 and the phone began ringing. The person in the darkness made their way for the door, heading outside, though as he opened the door, the moonlight shimmered in and on the tiled apartment floor of the living room. The light unveiled a pool of blue blood and a hand lying in the puddle, stiff and cold.

"I better get paid extra for this…"


	9. Misfortune

Cambridge and Kreon walked together along the streets with Zaffre right behind them. There were plenty of things illuminating the night. Inkopolis was a very bright city, whether it be day or night, though the places for partying got a lot more crowded during the late hours. It was around eleven at night, and Cambridge's mother was not happy to be going out this late. She was never happy if her son was up past ten. The dragon squid guest of theirs looked angry to not be getting her beauty sleep, but even more upset that Alizarin had not shown up with her money. They waited, and the red squid refused to answer his phone.

"Are you sure he's not just asleep?" Zaffre asked. This did not involve her work as a turf official so far, but her son begged her to come.

"I'm sure, mom! Alizarin said he was going to come over. So-something doesn't feel right," Cambridge admitted, greatly worried. The dragon inkling beside him yawned as they stopped at a crosswalk.

"I don't care about your friend. I care about my coins he has," Kreon reminded them. She wanted nothing more than her ninety million coins back. Zaffre had no care or energy at the moment to query her, but that was a lot of coins, which she made a mental note for later.

"We're not far. He lives just down the next turn," Cambridge insisted, oddly not being affected much by the late night. The three of them passed through the crosswalk when the light turned green, and headed down the street to the next right. Alizarin's apartment complex was just another place for small families that did not have much coins to their names, so they were quite cheap.

"What the…?" Zaffre gasped, the three stopping in place. Flashing lights emitted from police cars and an ambulance. There was a yellow tape line ordering those to not interfere with official business. There was a small crowd gathered up, wondering what the commotion was. Cambridge immediately ran ahead, worried for his friend's wellbeing.

"Why is it my life went to coral shards when I met these people?" Kreon asked herself as she went to catch up, only at the mere thought of her money being in danger. They were stopped by two adult squids in police uniforms who looked ready to stand guard all night if they had to.

"State your business," one officer requested.

"My friend lives here! Alizarin Rohling! Please, I need to see him, it's very important," Cambridge begged, his necklace clacking a bit as the teeth and single scale clashed. The officers looked to each other. They went silent, with a grim look telling them that something did happen, but they were not allowed to disclose the information.

"It's official turf related business. I'm Zaffre Verlegen. I was called here to aid in the investigation," Zaffre presented her medallion. The officers lifted up the do not cross tape, with instantly hateful looks toward her for being a turf official. Working a law of their own caused a lot of tension at times.

"Mom…" Cambridge wanted to come along, too, but the cops were not going to let him.

"Honey, stay out here, and if you give either of these men trouble, I will make you do a thousand push ups… and Kreon, do a thousand push ups anyway. You look like you could use the exercise," Zaffre ordered them to stay put. Kreon crossed her arms, looking away. Cambridge did as his mom told him, not wanting to cause too many problems. Once she figured out what was going on, she would let them know right away. All she knew was that her child was worried to no end. Each minute passed and she hated to see him like that. She really wished he never had met that dragon squid. Things seemed to go crazy in their lives ever since then.

Once the turf official worker arrived to the apartment, she could see a few more cops stationed outside. She flashed her badge, and they let her to the door. Before she could go inside, she was blocked by a big inkling in a red trench coat and a pair of glasses, who looked even stronger than her and almost twice her size. He had one big grey colored tentacle, his other tentacle appearing to have been cut off a long time ago with only a stub in its place.

"Detective Granite. What can I do for you?" he asked. Zaffre recognized that name. He had arrested a dozen turf officials after they were attempting to break the law outside of turf wars, which was a rare thing. Turf officials normally handled this in their own systems. Zaffre had to admit that she was impressed by this investigator. He looked strong enough to actually be a competitive fighter to her. The mother squid brushed aside her thoughts of future training, focusing back on finding out what occurred here.

"I'm Zaffre Verlegen, worker for the official turf war administration," Zaffre repeated while presenting her badge.

"I don't recall this being a turf issue… okay, tell me the reason you're here and I might be able to help you. Can you just be honest with me please? I've had a rough day," the lead detective sighed. He looked annoyed and drained, like he had spent his entire day stuck with someone he very much despised. The blue inkling felt like she could relate a lot with that.

"My son's friend lives in this apartment. His name's Alizarin. can you tell me what happened?" Zaffre spoke honestly. If it was the best way to find out the truth, then she was going to do it for her son. The grey squid sighed, and he led her away from the apartment door and took her down the hall.

"I only took you away from my fellow officers, because I know when you hear what I'm about to say, you're gonna punch the nearest thing," Granite said, reaching into his trench coat pocket and pulling out a small bottle of milk that had been poured into a water bottle. He began drinking it, just looking over the balcony of the apartment complex to the street far below.

"Thanks, I guess?" Zaffre tilted her head. At least he was considerate.

"You're a nice woman. A lot nicer compared to most of those turf official lunatics, but listen… Alizarin Rohling has been arrested under suspicion of murdering his foster father," Granite explained as straight forward as possible. Everything froze in place. Zaffre looked at him, her mind trying to process it all. Alizarin got along so well with his adoptive father. This made no sense, but it was about to make her freeze in shock. He was right about one thing though, she wanted to punch something a lot now.

"Sor-sorry, what?" Zaffre requested him to continue as she leaned against the wall, wondering how she would tell her son about this.

"Yeah… it seems to be another case of a mental breakdown because of his real parents. Witnessing his real dad kill his mom after she tried to kill him made the poor squiddie lose it, which led to him killing his adoptive dad," Granite stated, referring to what happened with Alizarin's first parents. Unfortunately, the red squid's biological mother was mentally unstable, and that got worse overtime, until one day had snapped and tried to murder her child. It left a long nasty scar on Alizarin's body. His father saved him, but that then was the end of that family. One dead, one in jail, and the other to be adopted.

"No way! Alizarin isn't some random murderer! He can't be! I mean… sure, he's an idiot, but he was perfectly fine earlier today!" the blue woman tried to defend him, but the detective sighed while drinking more of his milk, feeling that his night was about to get a lot more annoying.

"That's just what I get from my first analysis of the scene. From what I could tell, Ali took a knife off a plate that had been left in the living room and snuck up on his father. When he turned around, he stabbed him in the chest, stomach and leg. Afterwards he went to the kitchen to dial 911, but he blacked out," Granite elaborated on what it seemed like. She did not seem happy about it this. Assaulting another squid for no reason wasn't going to do her anything beyond a little stress relief.

"I just can't believe it…" Zaffre reinstated her previous argument.

"Sorry ma'am. But right now, it's up to my boys in the forensics team to find the small details out. My job as a detective is to set up one of the big pictures that COULD have happened," he apologized, shrugging. Unfortunately, there were no other suspects, and finding Alizarin unconscious with the weapon in his hand not too far away from his foster father's corpse made all fingers immediately get pointed his direction.

"Did you or your boys find ninety million coins?" Zaffre questioned. Obviously that made her come off suspicious, trying to see if any of the cops had found huge amount of coins.

"Why? You lose a lot of money to him?" Granite quirked, making a mental note of this.

"No, Alizarin had the money. It belongs to that dragon girl down there," the turf war official explained, not wanting to cast any more suspicion on herself, though she knew the dragon inkling and her son were each other's alibis, so they were safe.

"Well madam, if we find those coins, we'll make sure she'll get'em back. Mind if I ask what her name is?" Granite requested, looking down at Kreon from their floor who was sitting on a bench with Cambridge. She was begrudgingly trying to keep him cheered up, while he was trying to keep her reassured that she would get her wealth and rank back.

"It's Kreon. I don't know her full name, sorry, I just met her the other day. She kind of knows my son," Zaffre explained. The detective thought more. The dragon squid looked familiar.

he nodded thanking her for the information that was another mental note being made

"…keep me updated," Zaffre ordered, handing over her cellphone number before making her way toward the stairwell, her feet stomping hard on each step. Granite sighed, putting his bottle of milk back in his coat pocket.

"People act like I enjoy my job," Granite muttered, not enjoying the treatment of other squids who thought he enjoyed viewing murders and trying to solve them. It was another reason of many to his poor, stressful day. The grey detective made his way back toward the apartment, wanting to get back to work. The sooner things were solved, the sooner they all could rest.

"Hey you," the detective spoke to one of the officers acting as guard.

"Yeah sir?"

"You get the night off. I need you to find my fifth case file and see what you can dig up on Kreon Blodskam," Granite declared. The officer seemed a lot happier to do research than deal with a dead body. The detective stepped inside the apartment, seeing the pool of blue blood on the living room floor with the forensics teams working hard.

"Kreon, daughter of the tentacle eater… boy, this is going to be a fun week."


	10. Requesting Help

After Zaffre had informed him of what happened, the currently in his squid form Cambridge cried into his mother's chest while being carried by her ever since, Kreon walking beside them. The blue squid's mother felt horrible for her son. No matter what they believed, they had no way to prove otherwise that Alizarin was not a murderer.

"Quit crying you big squishie. Seriously," Kreon was irritated from his crying. Losing her coins once again was another anger inducing issue in her mind. She had a huge headache from all the stress lately getting to her head that it would make it explode.

"So your best friend is going to jail for life. Big deal. Just move on and get another. It's not that hard," she added. His choked sobs didn't quiet down. The mother cast a very scary glare down at the dragon squid.

"How many friends did you lose today? All of them?" Zaffre retorted in her son's defence. He was not up to the task of fending for himself. He felt like the world was collapsing around him. The thought of his best friend being behind bars for the rest of his life was horribly devastating. Kreon paused for a moment.

"I've lost everything in these last few months a lot more than my friends… friends can be replaced, but my money and rank? Those are nowhere near as easy to reobtain," Kreon claimed, though she was wondering why Cambridge was in his squid form when upset. She guessed he either lost control of his transforming ability or he found being a squid a lot more comforting when upset than being in his inkling form.

"Now look here. I don't care about you, or about your life! All I know is you've made my son's life a nightmare ever since he met you! Now get away from us. I'm probably going to be missing work tomorrow," Zaffre wished to call in sick so she could take care of her son. He lost his father and was going to lose his best friend, that he could not handle. The mother began to walk off to get back to their apartments.

"Hmpf! Fine! I'm the only dragon squid in Inkopolis! You should be thankful that I graced you with my presence for so long!" Kreon stormed off the other direction, upset. However, her movement began to slow down when she passed by an electronics store with rows of televisions outside of it. She leaned against the brick wall of the building with her arms crossed. She was emotionally messed up from the news of Alizarin being accused of murder. She had no idea why she was affected so harshly by it either, but she had done a good job hiding her emotions thus far.

"I feel like I've been corrupted…" Kreon hit the back of her head against the wall before sliding down it and sitting on the concrete sidewalk, bringing her knees to her chest. She heard an odd noise from the many televisions combined inside.

"It's Inkopolis news time!" she heard familiar voices, turning around and stepping in front of the many televisions. Callie and Marie were live in front of a wide screen TV, giving their normal broadcast for the time. This was going to be the last one for today since they had a schedule for these. The dragon inkling had to admit that she did not anticipate to fight the most famous pair in Inkopolis today, but she was more impressed that they somehow had all this energy to always have these news reports ready every couple of hours on a daily schedule.

"The first of the two stages on the next rotation are Moray Towers. look at all that fog down there! I can't even see the ground," Callie exclaimed.

"Oh! That's called draw distan… cough! I mean, yeah, that is a lot of fog..." Marie coughed. The two cousins always were on sync pretty greatly.

"And the other map is Saltspray Rig! I hear this place is very romantic for dates," Callie hummed, her cousin raising an eyebrow confusedly. That statement still came off as weird, even it was what the script said.

"Well you'll need some water to wash the salt out of your mouth once you lose here," the white inkling replied, both laughing from that.

"…I've got it," Kreon began to wander off with her bag over her shoulder, heading straight for the main plaza. She had an idea in mind, and the Squid Sisters were only people who could help her. They were friends to Cambridge and Alizarin after all. Kreon had been informed by the two all about Crion and that coin deal with her former close friend Jelek. She did not know what was going on here, but now her money was not the main focus on her mind anymore.

Callie and Marie had just ended their broadcast, and after televising, the two were sitting at their table in their recording studio, where their single cameraman was working on the camera to make sure it was well maintained. Their table had small chairs set up on both sides and big lollipops in a small container between them. There were a few squids outside the huge glass wall, which the Squid Sisters occasionally waved to their fans from, who were content and happy to watch them. It was a lot more disturbing when they watched most of their actions when they weren't live on air. The two Squid Sisters suddenly heard knocking at their door.

"Come in!" Marie called out, after a brief moment, they saw their security guard open the door, leading Kreon inside. The dragon squid looking exasperated from the long rush over to the main plaza just to catch the two before they left work, because she was not up to hunting them down at their homes and this really did seem too important to wait until tomorrow she doubted that they had even heard the news though this was naturally a very awkward situation for the three of them.

"She said she's here to see ya," the guard stated, closing the door and leaving them in the room. The security staff were all supposed to not allow people into the studio, but that guard was the laziest one out of all their staff who would wave people in that just asked nicely. That kindness also made him quite the favorite in the studio manager's eyes, so there was nothing they could do. The room was enveloped in silence.

"Um… would you like a lollipop?" Callie offered, hearing Marie snickering. Kreon turned down the offer, not even sure if the lollipops on the table were real.

"No. I'm not hungry. I know you two hate me and all that, but I came here to talk about something important," Kreon requested them to listen. She would understand if they told her to buzz off. The Squid Sisters looked quite confused by the sudden personality difference. The last time they saw her, back in that turf war, she was a merciless ink brush wielder until they all got arrested by the turf official worker.

"We don't hate you at all," Marie claimed.

"Really?" Kreon was surprised, considering their first impressions.

"We've dealt with a lot worse… and I do mean a lot worse!" Callie added. With the help of their best friend and grandfather, she and her cousin had fought an entire army of octarians in secrecy who stolen the great zapfish and tried to take all of Inkopolis's power. Thankfully the octolings were freed of their mind control and saved from being forced to create a catastrophic second great turf war, not that many knew this tale.

"I'll cut to the point. Alizarin has been arrested, Cambridge is having a mental breakdown, and I'm next to bankrupt and lost my rank," Kreon stated. The Squid Sisters looked to each other, naturally stunned at these announcements.

"What? But why? What is going on?!" Callie looked ready to panic, Marie getting out of her chair and trying to reassure her it was alright.

"The police are claiming Alizarin went insane and murdered his father. Cambridge couldn't take it all in at once and now he's just a sulking squid," Kreon explained in better detail.

"What does this have to do with us, though? There's nothing we can do to help. We're just famous squids. That's not gonna be enough to clear him of a murder charge," Marie's feeling of shock wasn't alleviated.

"You can help! My ninety million coins has been stolen, but the thing is, Alizarin had it! Someone had to have been there but left no trace. They killed his dad, framed him and made off with the money. If we can find the thief, we can help clear his name," Kreon elaborated. From what Cambridge and Alizarin had told her, it was either Crion or one of his shady associates to blame for it all. After all Crion was recruiting so many people for high costs of coins.

"…wow. I've never heard someone sound greedy in a good way before," Callie had to admit. Alizarin was their friend, and now that the red squid knew who they were behind their disguises, they did not have any reason to hide. Marie had a smile on her face.

"I know the perfect person that can help us too. His nickname is Agent 3. Do you think he's still working in his studio?" she quirked. Agent 3 was the one who had a big hand in fighting off the octarian army.

"He always works late! Come on, we just have to be careful not to interrupt a scene," Callie insisted they go recruit their other dear friend to help. Kreon was relieved to know she had their help on this matter. Agent 3 had become a fellow actor in the course of a year and worked at the studio as well. The dragon inkling followed the Squid Sisters out the door, feeling grandly relieved to have them here to help.

"Something really is wrong with me… I hope this Agent 3 is worth his weight…"


	11. Agent 3

Kreon had followed the Squid Sisters through the studio complex. She could notice a lot of people still here for this late hour, mostly security but also a few other famous stars here. That the dragon squid noticed was a squid in a business suit from a popular franchise of movies called Squid Attorney, though she assumed they had a bit more of a walk to go.

"Does this Agent 3 guy have a real name?" Kreon chimed in. Calling someone agent and number sounded actually pretty rude, though these two were Agents 1 and 2, so maybe it was just common nicknames between all of them.

"Yeah. His name's Rackley," Marie simply responded as they began to make their way upstairs to the next floor of the studio, where a few janitorial members worked away, greeting the pop stars as they passed by. They arrived to a set of double doors for Set 3-C. There was a red light on beside the door with the words 'Recording in progress'. They were going to be forced to wait out here for the recording to stop before they could go inside to try and recruit Agent 3 to help them.

"How'd you guys meet him anyway? Just co-workers becoming friend's situation?" Kreon tried to start conversation to pass the time, as Marie pulled a nearby small crate over that was full of spare costumes or the fabrics needed to repair clothing. She just closed the lid on it before sitting on it like a chair.

"No, Rackley only started working here about a month after he met us, once the octarians were beaten. It was complete accident that we met him," Callie stated while using her big tentacles as a cushion to rest on. She loved having giant tentacles sometimes, though they did nothing but bring her teasing while growing up.

"He was going to get a soda after a turf war and tripped into the pipe to Octo Valley. Our grandpa greeted him and things went from there. Can't say it was a bad thing though. He is pretty good with a luna blaster," Marie claimed. That blind luck was what got them their biggest asset and strongest warrior against the octarian army. The group had a lot of good times together.

"What got him working here then?" Kreon questioned, not wanting to hear an entire retelling of the war tale. It sounded like a great heroic effort, but she really did not care right now for it. If they had to wait too long, she was going to take the Squid Sisters and go hunting right away. The Squid Sisters looked quite depressed to recall that they were glad to have him working in their studio, but there was something not good that occurred to put him on the path to working here.

"That's a bit complicated… he hasn't really opened up to us about everything, but we can kind of put things together… but he doesn't know everything about his own past, either," Marie stated, letting her cousin help with the explaining. For some reason it seemed to strike a personal string in her heart more than her cousin.

"From what we gathered, he was raised for a few years by his father, but his mother never was around. One day, his dad just vanished and never came back. His grandma found him and adopted him. We have a lot of connections, so when he told us that, we looked into things and he was born from a surrogate mother, because his mother was not able to have any eggs of her own," Callie explained. As if one not knowing their own past was not bad enough, having a confusing family history did not help.

"He's only fifteen, but after the octarians were beaten and we heard him tell us about his family from what he knew, we offered to help fund him some money so he could find out more as thanks… but he turned it down," she continued. Kreon felt confused now. A lot of things could be accomplished with huge amounts of money, probably paying the right private detective or two, and he could have all the information about his family that he would ever want.

"Why? Let me guess, some sort of junk about finding himself?" the dragon squid guessed blindly. She was surprised when they both shook their heads. Even if it was true, they would have done a lot more to convince him otherwise.

"Rackley is fifteen, but he is the type of guy who needs something to dedicate himself to, or else he can't function as well. When we offered that to him, he said that knowing about his real mom, the surrogate. Or the mother and father who abandoned him would do nothing but bring him bad luck and take his attention away from his grandmother," Marie continued. This grandmother of Agent 3's sounded like a lot more of an elder who did her best to raise him.

"I'm guessing when you say function as well, you mean ignore his depression as well?"

"Yeah. He's always had it for some reason. He worked hard to get through it though, and his grandma was sick, so he dedicated himself to taking care of her constantly. One day he went to a turf war after he literally did everything possible in that home. He played with us a lot too. I walked him home, and then we found her in her favorite chair, just motionless," Marie explained. She had the misfortune of stumbling across a dead body of Agent 3's only family. It was quite a shock to see, which was why this topic upset her a little.

"They said she had died from her heart condition during a nap. Rackley walked out of his home that day, and me and Marie gave him some space, but after a week, we couldn't find him anywhere. It took a month before he reappeared. He had no home now, so we let him stay with us and gave him a job at the studio," Callie finished the long story, both of them looking quite saddened from telling everything. Finally, they saw the red light above the door shut off, indicating they were done recording. Kreon smiled gladly, seeming to have barely been phased by this news, having no clue what to expect this Agent 3 to be like.

"But he's kind of famous in his own way. Ever since he got this job, he's been more dedicated than we've ever seen him," Marie claimed. Kreon was even more unsure what to expect from him now. She kept that straight face, needing them to help prove Alizarin innocent. Kreon followed them inside, her mind beginning to wander. She was starting to question what happened to her mind. One day she hated the red squid and his best friend. Now she was out to save one from being put away for life and another from losing their best friend. She had no care for the money anymore either.

"Excuse me," Kreon heard someone passing by in a costume, appearing to be an over sized isopod monster. She could see a lot of costumes, and others appearing to be sleeping in the studio's back area.

"Hey, director! Where's Rackley?" Callie questioned, seeing the familiar man in a baseball cap and leather jacket with a beard. The older squid chuckled, pointing behind him to the set on the other side of the wall.

"The Crescent Black Squid Ranger is just on stage. Go on ahead. We're done for the night. Take care, ladies," the director for this area bid them goodnight and continued on his way, a few cameramen following behind him, all wishing to go get some rest before they worked more the next day. The Squid Sisters let Kreon go ahead. She walked onto the set, where there appeared to be nothing but one big area set up to look like a throne room for a dark emperor.

"Wuh?" Kreon stepped back in surprise, seeing someone appear before her, their white boot stomping the ground. He stood there in a completely black costume that had white lines running up from the shoes to the shoulders in weird patterns, and a helmet that had a black visor shaped like an upside down crescent moon. He had a purple cape flowing behind him and a weird fancy looking luna blaster on his side. It was like he had appeared out of nowhere. The dragon squid felt the need to attack him with her inkbrush.

"You entered the wrong lair," the costumed person spoke, pulling their luna blaster off their side and aiming for the then frozen Kreon. Luna blasters were a popular weapon. Most of the time they could instantly splatter anyone. They hit directly, and even if the shot misses, an indirect attack still hurt.

"I'm the Crescent Black Squid Ranger, defender of justice! What are you doing here?" the person in the helmet questioned. Marie though walked up and took the helmet off the person's head, revealing an inkling with blue tentacles with an orange tinge at the end, tied up into a ponytail that ran down his back halfway after release from the helmet.

"Aw, Marie! Come on!" he cried.

"Agent 3! She's not a new actor. You can practice your corrupted hero role later since you've worked too much today. Kreon, this is Rackley, leader of the squid rangers. Rackley, this is Kreon, a friend to a friend of our friend," Callie introduced them to one another. Kreon groaned, rubbing her head. She knew that costume looked familiar. The squid rangers were a very popular new superhero show about seven squids that got special powers from across the galaxies and the cosmos that they used to fight evil with. It was a good show, definitely more appealing to kids, but the dragon squid hated knowing that Agent 3 was the Black Crescent Squid Ranger, because she felt like that ranger's acting was far too serious. Treating each scene greatly at least was nice, but doing it too well made it scary.

"Oh. It's nice to meet you, Kreon… Callie, Marie, what is it you two need? I figured you'd both be long gone to bed by now," he had to admit his curiosity. He loved playing the main squid ranger. It made him feel very important, and he dedicated every last ounce of emotion and energy to acting out that very role.

"Our friend got set up and is in deep sea trouble! We need to find a briefcase full of money that has been stolen to hopefully help prove him innocent. Can you help us with finding it?" Callie asked, she and Kreon expressing how badly they wanted the help. He scratched his tentacle with his free hand, his helmet under his arm after he had got it back from the white inkling.

"I don't know… no offense, Kreon, my best friends trust you, so that means I trust you too, but I'd like to get a few more scenes in before I turn in for the night," Rackley apologized. He was somehow planning to record even more scenes and acting to train and practice without the director being remotely near. Kreon was ready to speak up when the Squid Sisters got in front of their friend, having an idea in mind.

"Pleaaaase, Rackley?" the two cousins said in unison, putting on their best upset expressions they could muster. Rackley gulped in surprise, not wanting to make them sad. He hated seeing the Squid Sisters depressed or saddened. They were great at acting, even better than him. They had even appeared on his show a few times.

"We really can't do this alone…" Callie claimed, keeping up the fake teary eyes.

"Aren't you a great defender of justice? It'd be horrible for you to ignore a squid in danger…" Marie added with a quivering lip. He put his hands up, motioning them to calm down.

"Al-alright! Just because I love you two… What can I do to help?" Rackley agreed. The two cousins instantly stopped their act, and they let Kreon begin explaining everything, aware that they had to go over the plan before they got to work. It was already midnight, but they had plenty of energy left in them to burn. Rackley especially looked ready to do anything.

"Don't any of you worry… I won't let your friend be locked away."


	12. Pinchling?

The four of them left the studio in the late of the night, heading out onto the streets of Inkopolis. The Squid Sisters had put their disguises back on. They were all planning to go find Jelek to begin with, as he was the first one to be witnessed trying to transfer the money over to Crion. However, Kreon felt an immense confusion while they walked, staring at a familiar cape flapping behind the fourth of the group.

"Are you sure you don't want to take that costume off?" the dragon squid asked. Rackley was still wearing his Crescent Squid Ranger costume. Only his helmet was removed, letting his ponytail tied tentacles rest on his back. This seemed normal to Agent 3's best friends.

"A true hero of justice doesn't remove his uniform," Rackley proudly replied. The dragon inkling looked at the disguised Squid Sisters, still unable to believe this. She was asking herself in her head constantly how and why she keeps finding these weirdos. Fame did not matter to her, but she was wondering if it was good for their mission. She just hoped Agent 3 was worth their time.

"Can't argue with that," Marie said, the dragon inkling looking at her like she had no idea what to say, though the white Squid Sister looked calm about it all, like she had long since accepted it as a thing.

"You should be thankful that he has the helmet off! At least he makes young squirts happy when they meet him in public," Callie added, smiling from this. Rackley was great with the young squirts and squishies that in turn loved him and the show. The rest of the current squid rangers from the television show enjoyed their jobs and the inkling children they made happy, but only Agent 3 showed that special dedication to the role so much that he almost lived it out in the real world. Kreon did her best to ignore it, glad that he was helping and trying to forget the rest.

"So what's the plan to find this money?" Rackley questioned, seeing the dragon squid point ahead.

"Jelek doesn't live far from here. He was supposedly trying to give the money away to begin with all by himself, so we need to… interrogate him," Kreon explained the plan the three agents for some reason felt nervous. The way she pronounced interrogate came off the same way one would say before brutally attacking them within an inch of their life. The dragon squid was glad to know that the three of them were actually pretty well trained and excellent fighters from fighting the octarian army.

"How are we going to get him to tell us anything?" Agent 1 chirped, afraid of the answer she might receive.

"Leave that to me! I know all of my posse's weaknesses and strengths," Kreon grinned. Everyone felt more afraid but this, but they did their best to ignore it. The group of four armed squids headed off for Jelek's apartment, the former S ranked dragon squid planning on giving him a not so friendly visit.

At the apartment complex on Westchester Avenue, there was not much going on. A few random squids were walking up and down the steps, leaving or going home. The group of four all were beginning to make their way up the steps. When they got to the fifth floor, the hallway that was supposed to lead them to the correct apartment housed three random inklings in various fresh clothing who were blocking their path and looked all too familiar.

"Hey, aren't those your friends?" Marie spoke, recognizing them from the turf war. One of those was the poor one whom the dragon inkling had used as a shield to block a charger blast. He and the other two inklings were not going to let them by. Kreon approached them with her three cohorts behind her. She never imagined she would be in this situation.

"Hey guys. Is Jelek home?" she greeted her friends, hoping in her head that they had been ignoring her phone calls or attempted texts for various reasons. It was a long shot, but she appeared desperate for an answer, or any excuse or lie to justify or cleanse her of the upset thought of losing all her friends. She still was having trouble getting over. It was going to be one hour past midnight soon, and she had a long and difficult day, the late hour was not aiding her mental health.

"Kreon? What are you doing'ere?" one of them asked. One was female and the other two were male, and they were all armed with Tentatek splattershots, but they were a new model type that none of them had seen before. Each one of them looked very expensive.

"I need to see Jelek. I tried calling you guys earlier, but none of you answered…" Kreon explained. The other squids looked behind her at the random group she was with. It seemed weird to them for the dragon squid to be with two people wearing such clothes at this hour. Rackley's costume helped nothing either.

"Jelek is busy right now, so just buzz off," one of the inkling boys spoke up, the trio continuing to block the way. Those words seemed to sting the dragon inkling in the heart.

"Guys, I lost my rank, and my money. Can't you help me?" she begged. The female inkling pulled her splattershot off her side, aiming it at her former friend.

"Why? We got a better boss now, but thanks for the money, it really has gotten us settled into the easy life. Also, get this. We're all S+ now!" the inkling laughed. Somehow in the span of today, they had all become S+ ranked. The baffled Kreon did not know what to say. They were only A- rank last time she saw them. She closed her eyes tight, just as her former friend began to pull the trigger, about to splatter her. The dragon inkling felt no pain.

"You call these people friends?" Rackley spoke up. Kreon opening her eyes, seeing the costumed inkling standing in front of her. He had taken the orange ink to his chest. While it stung a little, he would get over it.

"They're just coin leeches," Marie added.

"The second they get what they want, they treat you like you're nothing," Callie also added. Kreon had to accept that. Most likely all of her friends were gone now, beyond one who was in such an upset state of mind that it had put her on this path to try and prove Alizarin innocent.

"Go back to the squirt party you came from!" the inkling ordered about to fire more ink. Rackley pulled his luna blaster off his side and quickly fired three sphere bursts of ink that hit the three inklings with bursts of blue ink. They instantly all splattered into puddles of blue.

"Sorry, but a defender of justice always ends violence… even if he must use violence," Rackley chuckled, resting his luna blaster back on his side. Before them, the apartment door was wide open. The four of them made their way inside.

"Jelek!" Kreon stomped into the house with the others. The room they were in now had a western theme to it. The house was not what they expected to stumble across. The furniture was messy, the television was broken to shards, and the floor looked to have its fair share of dents. The kitchen was full of broken plates and cups. Everything was a heap of trash.

"He's having a meeting with our boss. Can I take a message?" they heard a light toned voice. Someone then entered the living room from the hallway, it was a girl in a black business suit and a weird weapon on her back. She appeared to them with reddish skin and odd eyes with a blue tint to them, and she had dreadlocks, but they, along with the rest of her, looked strange.

"You mean he's not here?!" Kreon groaned. If it wasn't already trashed, she would tear the whole apartment to pieces to find him.

"Uh… who are you?" Callie asked the bigger question on the other three's minds. That suit looked very fresh and seemed so extraordinarily comfortable to her that she wished to sleep in it.

"More like what are you?" Marie chimed up, more focused on what this individual was. They weren't an inkling or anything else they had seen before. She looked roughly their age, but she clearly was not here for fun and games, but for guard duty on top of the three just splattered guards outside.

"Sorry, I know it's rude, but I really wanna know too," Rackley added. As Agent 3, he had seen a lot of different odd octolings and inklings, but he was just as curious. Kreon buried her face into her hands in dismay.

"I recruited squids that are slowing me down…" she thought. If it was just the odd individual and the dragon squid, they would be splattered and things would go as normal, but Kreon pulled herself together, reminding herself that she would have been splattered and never have gotten past those former friends of hers without the help of the squid ranger.

"I'm Celesio, the third pinchling to the Amabile family line," Celesio smiled. This did nothing but confuse the group more.

"Pinchling? What's that?" Callie and Marie asked in another accidental display of their excellent sync with each other.

"If I pretend to care, will that get you to tell us where Jelek is sooner?" Kreon requested her to cut to the point. Celesio seemed annoyed quickly.

"I'm one of a rare few to the newest race, I was… no, wait, why am I wasting my time talking to you?! I found what I want and I am not in the mood to monologue aloud to complete strangers. I can practice my dramatic monologue on my action figures later, you'll hear my lovely speech when the time is right." Celesio tried to leave past them when suddenly Kreon stopped her by pulling her custom inkbrush off her back, blocking the doorway.

"Funny. I'm the only dragon squid in Inkopolis. I don't plan to let you leave here without answering me," Kreon grinned, showing her sharp teeth. Celesio and her eyes' intensifying gaze focused on one another. Callie, Marie and Rackley could tell that a battle was about to go down, though they wondered if they should get involved. The pinchling pulled the weapon off her back, revealing it to be a mop combined with floor buffer machinery. It had a tank on the side of it filled with salt water.

"Fine then, scaly. Let's dance."


	13. Wound

**Author Note: Hi all, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what you think of this fic so far in a review, have a good day!**

Kreon and Celesio began fighting, their brush weapons upon clashing sending out ink and salt water around them from each bash which was quickly messing up Jelek's apartment. The Squid Sisters and their dear friend watched from afar, having been ordered to do that by the dragon squid. If things got too bad, they would tag in to save their friend, though they wondered why she told them to not get involved, but that became apparent by the sound of running footsteps outside.

"I'm guessing the guys you splattered called in friends after respawning…" Marie muttered to the costumed actor beside them. Rackley pulled his luna blaster off his side, his ink tank full enough for him to go around splatting plenty of squids or octopi, though his experience with octarians in Inkopolis were quite low, and it wasn't like they were evil anymore.

"Guys, I think someone's outside the fire escape window…" Callie heard the sound of shattering glass. At this point, Jelek's house was a turf zone. Eight inklings were coming from down the hall. Callie pulled her krak-on roller off her back, Marie getting her custom E-Liter 3k out, their ink tanks full of pink and green ink respectively.

"We'll show them what happens when they try to gang up on heroes for justice!" Rackley fired a burst of ink that instantly splattered the inkling on the fire escape into puddles of blue ink. His close friends found it nice to at least have someone who treated them like normal squids instead of the immensely popular pop stars they were, though that might be because of his fame with young squids.

"Me and Marie can cover the hall," Callie vouched as she ducked under a stray splashing of salt water that almost hit her, exhaling in relief. Her cousin wanted to already attack the pinchling for that, but she decided they could not waste time, or else they would be in a tight apartment with a tens or dozens of other squids who were trying to turn it into a micro turf war. The Squid Sisters exited the apartment. Marie took a step outside and saw a bright orange blast of ink which flew by her head, hitting the wall at the end of the hall, making her stumble backwards, Callie catching her cousin and helping her get back onto her feet.

"Get outta here!" shouted one of the many random inklings who came to assault the complex. Callie saw two squids with inkbrushes running at her. She rolled her eyes raising her roller overhead with a wide grin across her face. The two stopped in place as if they only just now realized they tried to charge towards a roller wielder. Callie brought her roller down with a hammering attack, splattering the two instantly into puddles of pink ink.

"Well, they're not too bright…" Marie muttered, having taken cover behind a small wooden frame that had small plants planted in them. She aimed her charger, seeing another squid with a splatterscope. The enemy was about to fire when the white inkling held the trigger of her charger, letting it charge. Once it was fully charged up, she aimed the laser sight on him. She let go, and a straight line of green ink flew across the hall, hitting the other charger user in the face and splattering him with green ink, his charger clattering to the ground and firing its half charged shot of blue ink that hit another one of the inklings in the back, splattering them as well.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Callie complimented, her cousin giving a nervous smile. To Marie, it was nothing but dumb luck on her part, but she was not complaining about an ego polishing. There were only four enemy squids left, and they just hoped things were going alright inside.

The fight inside the apartment continued, while random squids were busting in through the fire escape windows and initiating fights with Rackley, but the squid ranger was managing to handle it. To him, this was a fun game. He never took turf wars too seriously, nor did he with regular ink fights.

"Move, you scale shedding freak!" Celesio swung the salt water mop brush. Kreon ducked under it, watching one of the random squids get hit and melt until they splattered. The dragon squid swung upward with her ink brush, the green ink slinging off hitting the pinchling and causing a stinging pain across her face and arm.

"What's got you so crabby? Upset knowing I'm going to win?" Kreon joked. Her opponent swiped her feet out from under her with the swing of her mop brush. Kreon fell on her back against the floor. When she looked up, a squid had a rapid blaster aimed at her face, having gotten past Agent 3. Suddenly, the inkling got slashed with a quick brandish of salt water, and he himself got splattered.

"She's mine! If you attack her, you get splattered!" Celesio roared to the others who were pinned down. Kreon got up, confused, but she was glad to see another individual with honor, even if the circumstances were not ideal for it.

"Okay, that's it…" Rackley hit a button on his luna blaster, activating its special ability. His tentacles began blazing with a bright blue and orange flame. He stood up, beginning to toss triangular grenades filled with ink down the hall, with his special ability they called Bomb Rush. The grenades all began detonating one by one, turning any inkling near them into a blue tiny puddle of goo.

"Okay, you freak. Let me show you a once in a life time sighting! Consider yourself lucky!" Celesio taunted as her red skin and hands were burning with energy. She hit a button on her saltwater mop weapon, and it began to change, bending around and turning into a more spherical claw shape around her left wrist and hand.

"Crab Cannon!" the pinchling fired a huge blast of salt water, which exploding on the wall. Kreon dodged it, seeing the huge blast of water dampen the wall. Lucky for her to have dodged it in time, though the pinchling then began to rapidly open fire at her. Kreon hit the button on her brush, which activated her custom inkbrush's special weapon, and the weapon itself morphed quickly into an inkzooka, plopping onto her shoulder. She dodged the next burst of salt water and ran right up to Celesio. Kreon had her inkzooka in the pinchling's face, and the crab claw being aimed at her own face as well.

"Do YOU wanna give up now? An inkzooka at this range will do a lot more than just splat you." Kreon offered, not hesitating or letting her aim sway. She was not going to lose this fight. It would make Alizarin's innocence even harder to prove. They had no idea where Jelek was, and this pinchling was the only real option for them to gain any chance of knowing where he was.

"Darling, you don't even want to imagine what a blast of salt water in YOUR ugly face will do," Celesio began to squeeze her weapon's trigger, not wanting to waste it while it was active. Kreon noticed this on time and pulled the trigger on the inkzooka. Both weapons fired and blasted simultaneously, Celesio hit in the face with a strong huge blast of ink, and Kreon hit with salt water, feeling her head and body melt somewhat. Both of the two battlers were splattered in half a second.

"Holy-! That was awesome," Rackley said from afar, splattering another intruder. However, two inklings with chargers sprung out from hiding, having slipped in through some ink in their squid forms, fully charged. They let go of the triggers, and two blasts of bright orange ink hit Rackley in the chest, knocking the heroic actor flat onto his back before he too splattered.

Callie and Marie had been doing great dealing with each individual attacker. However, they began to hear the sound of sirens. The white inkling looked over one of the windows of the hallway of the apartment complex, and she sighed in annoyance. Two in the morning, and now turf officials were arriving, after they had been called by one of the many apartment inhabitants who had gotten sick of hearing the sounds of fighting at such a late hour, and upon realizing ink was being slung around, called the turf officials.

"Ah, seaweed… we gotta go now!" Marie shouted to her cousin while she went to get their friends from the apartment. However, the white inkling saw only tons of other random inklings in there. Neither the dragon squid nor the squid ranger were in sight, and not even the pinchling.

"I'll clear the way so we can get to the fire escape," Callie stated, slamming her krak-on roller on the ground and beginning to charge in, the inklings being taken by surprise and instantly being splattered as she ran by, squashing them. Marie following behind her. They really did not need another unwanted meeting with the officials.

"Where are Kreon and Rackley?" the roller wielding squid asked as they reached the fire escape. not wanting to leave without them. Her cousin bashed another squid aside and blasted them with a charged shot of ink to splatter them.

"They must've gotten splattered! We'll find them, but we won't have a chance to if the officials get us again!" Marie presumed. Her cousin understood and climbed out onto the metal fire escape, their feet clanging against the metal. They put their weapons on their backs beside their ink tanks before beginning to climb down the steps as fast as they could. They would find their friends once they knew they were safe. Whenever someone was splattered in a turf war, they respawned at their teams designated spawn point, but when outside of a turf war, usually the only spawn points were in hospitals or medical facilities. The idea was that if someone got gravely hurt, they could splatter themselves and instantly be in medical care.

"Hey, wait! Look!" Callie said midway down the fire escape. Marie quirked an eyebrow. Time was a problem, it would not be long before a turf official would find them and arrest them under suspicion of trying to flee the scene, though when she looked down, she saw a wallet, which was open with a picture of Jelek and his family sticking out of it.

"Jelek must have dropped this… or some other person. But there might be something in it we can use. Come on, let's get out of here," Marie picked the wallet up and pocketed it. They then continued their desperate climb down the fire escape. Once at the bottom, Marie helped her cousin down due to the black inkling's fear of heights, and the access ladder was locked so it couldn't lower. Marie jumped down behind her once she was down, and they both immediately ran away from the apartment, their clothing covered in various colored ink splotches.

Rackley gasped as he reappeared. Here he was in a hospital, in the spawn point in a center room. There was a ring around him with a small opening that was scanning him quickly to make sure his vitals were alright with no injuries sustained. The machine pulled the ring apart, letting the costumed inkling wander out once he checked out as healthy. When he got out, he saw a few nurses and doctors, all of who were heading along to another spawn room in a rush clearly.

"I better see if Kreon's okay..."

Meanwhile with Cambridge, he had quite a rough night. It took him until three in the morning to actually go to sleep. It was eight in the morning now. Zaffre was in her bed sleeping, she was even more tired than her son had been. She had done her best to reassure him everything would be fine, but she still had no real way to prove it, and her words were very hollow given the situation. A mother's love was only able to do so much to mend a broken heart. The detective Granite did indeed keep in contact with the mother, which was a surprise to her, as she half-expected him to forget her. Zaffre only heard news saying that each evidence and alternative plausible cause of the murder were being ruled out, and each one was making Alizarin look even more like a crazed killer.

Cambridge began to stir in his sleep. His bed was a mess. Suddenly his cellphone started ringing. His head pulled off his pillow. His eyes were red from the long crying session last night. He used one of his tentacles and grabbed his phone, holding it to his face and looking at the caller ID. It was Kreon calling him. He mentally debated for a brief moment on answering or not. A second later, he used his other tentacle to hit the answer button, and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" the teenage squid weakly answered.

"Uh… hey. Is this Cambridge?" Rackley spoke up. Being a person the blue squid had never heard before, he wondered why he was calling from Kreon's phone, though it was safe to presume that Cambridge was the only contact information on that phone that was not blocking her phone number.

"Yeah… who is this?" Cambridge asked, wondering what else could be going wrong after everything around him began falling to shambles.

"This is Rackley. I'm at the Golden Squid Community Hospital. I work with the Squid Sisters. We're all here in the hospital. Kreon got the three of us to join her to try and help find the money that your buddy had to prove him innocent, I think. I've barely had any of this explained to me though…" Rackley explained thoroughly.

"Oh… that money… thanks for helping out, but why are you calling me? I'm just a worthless squid," Cambridge asked. He sounded like all of his care had been ripped out of him and broken into a million pieces. He felt sorry that they had gotten sent to the hospital, for some reason but he doubted it was anything major.

"Kreon told me to call you. She told us that last night, but I only just figured out the code to unlock the annoying thing. Things went crazy last night, and your dragon friend is undergoing her second surgery. She wanted you over here. She needs to talk to you personally," Rackley could not discuss everything that had happened last night. Otherwise he would be on the phone for hours. Now Cambridge was concerned and confused. That did not sound like Kreon at all and the news of her needing two surgeries was terrifying to him. The tone of seriousness that agent 3 had only added to his fear.

"Alright. I'll be right over," Cambridge hung up before getting out of bed in the same clothes he had on yesterday. He went to his wardrobe and quickly changed into a bright yellow shirt that had a steampunk style to it with a pattern of gears and bolts on it. He also put on a pair of red shorts before leaving his room, having already left his pet leaf bugs their food for today.

"Mom!" Cambridge called out while entering his mother's room. The turf official yawned, not really moving much.

"What is it honey?" Zaffre quirked.

"I'm going to go out for a bit. Someone named Rackley called saying Kreon is in the hospital," Cambridge quickly explained before darting off.

"Wait, who!?" Zaffre sprung up from her bed, but wound up falling out of it, wrapped up in her blankets from her sudden panic. She tried to struggle free from them.

"Bye, I love you!" Cambridge called out before the front door slammed shut. Zaffre let out an annoyed huff, banging her head on the floor, mad at herself and astonished by the impossible odds of those two meeting.

"Whatever. I'm sleeping down here…" she muttered.

Cambridge had caught a bus to Golden Squid Community Hospital. Thankfully the bus was on route there. It was nice to know he got lucky with this at least, though it was going to take some time before he would arrive to the hospital.

The Squid Sisters sat in the golden squid hospital, in an empty hospital room. Callie was working on Kreon's custom ink brush with a small set of tools that she always carried on her in case her roller ever needed repairs. Kreon's weapon had been partially damaged in the fight. A half-awake Marie was resting in the other chair. It was a hectic battle last night, but thankfully the Squid Sisters had plenty of pre-recorded news reports and stage rotation updates that the studio could play them in their absence.

"Here's breakfast," Rackley spoke while entering the room, balancing three trays of food on top of one another.

"Thanks, Rackley," Marie yawned, rubbing her eye. She took one of the trays happily. The food the hospital offered was nothing special. The tray had green peas, mashed potatoes and some soup. Callie rested the tools and custom inkbrush aside before taking her tray as well, thanking her friend, and then immediately beginning to dig into the food like a starving dog.

"No problem, you two… have the doctors said anything about Kreon?" Rackley requested. They both shook their heads. They had heard nothing about the dragon squid at all. She was still in surgery, and it was going well so far, but that was about the extent of what they had been told by one of the nurses.

"I found something useful in Jelek's wallet at least," Marie presented a small piece of paper that was folded up, Rackley taking it and beginning to carefully unfold it. There was writing on it with a small drawing at the bottom.

"You done messed up, big Jelek… we got the money from that red squid, but it was far from easy and was not remotely clean. You're in danger here. You best come down to one of our many bases by the docks number D-3."

The drawing underneath depicted a path to get through the right way to this specific building at the docks.

"It's not the money, but at least it's evidence," Callie exclaimed happily. This was a grand step in their favor, and they planned on checking it out as it was their only lead.

"Oh, is that him?" Rackley chimed, seeing Cambridge coming down the hall.

"That's him," Callie said, she and Marie nodding, though they had to note that he indeed looked quite horrible. He had been told the room number, and a nurse had pointed it out for the young squid as he entered the room.

"Hey," Cambridge half-heartedly greeted them, having already learnt the identity of the Squid Sisters from his mother the other day. They were already past the awkwardness of that secret information, but they still needed their disguises for the most part in public.

"Thanks for coming, Cambridge. I'm Rackley," Rackley introduced himself, shaking hands with the other blue inkling. The teenage squid at least hadn't the guts to question why he was wearing a costume.

"So what happened?" the young inkling asked, as he nitpickingly found himself the youngest in the entire room. Rackley was the second youngest, only a few years older than he was, while the Squid Sisters both being a year older than Rackley.

"Too much. Kreon got us to help her find the case of coin cards. She figured if we could find it, we can prove that Alizarin was framed," Marie simply explained, presenting the piece of paper that was a good step toward where to find that money.

"There was an accident though. A fight got really crazy with some pinchling girl, and…" Callie was about to finish telling what happened in better description, but then they heard a knocking on the door of the room, and they saw a young nurse standing there.

"Excuse me, but your friend is recovering very well. She won't need another surgery. She is awake now. You can go see her," the nurse stated the first good news that any of them have heard in some time. The nurse left the room.

"Well, let's go see her," Cambridge exclaimed, but his friends were against going all together, because the dragon squid requested to talk to him personally last night.

"We'll come in once we finish eating. She wanted to talk to you," Rackley reminded. The young blue inkling nodded, but he was slightly nervous. He took the repaired custom inkbrush and closed it into its compact form, wanting to deliver it to the dragon squid as well. Cambridge began to make his way back down the hall, heading right toward the recovery unit, which housed many tiny rooms that were separated for people who had just woken from their operations. It was quite a nice layout, and the rooms were quite brightly colored, as if to give a calming feeling or atmosphere to the recovery ward. He saw one of the patient name holders on the door that had Kreon's name on it. He pulled the sliding door aside before going in.

"Hey, Kreon… it's me," Cambridge spoke, entering the room. The familiar dragon inkling sat in a hospital bed with a gown on. She had a big white patch on the left side of her face that was covering her neck chin and cheek, as well as her eye.

"Finally! I told them to call you last night!" Kreon exclaimed angrily. Forgetting that she had not shared the code to access her phone with Agent 3 or the others.

"Sorry, I've been sleeping… I heard you got everyone together to help find the money to try and prove Alizarin innocent…" Cambridge mumbled, starting to lose his nerve. His mother hated the dragon squid immensely right now, more than any other person yet, after the encounter yesterday when he was having a breakdown.

"Yeah. What about it?" Kreon huffed. Cambridge came to her bedside, presenting her custom inkbrush and offering it to her.

"Thank you… I'm sorry for hurting you when I got you out of the way of that car… or whatever I did to upset you… are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah… they said I could take this bandage off whenever I wanted. Guess you'll be the first to see what I've done for you and your dumb friend…" Kreon took in a deep breath, trying to be calm. She reached up and began to remove the white bandaging covering her left side of her face. When she took it off, Cambridge's eyes widened, covering his mouth in shock.

"Sweet squid puffs…!" he gasped. Kreon looked over to the nearby mirror. Her left face was injured by the huge volume of salt water that had blasted her at such a close range. It had left a huge scar from her lower neck going up her cheek, only stopping once it got past her eye. It was actually harder to see out of her left eye now.

"Oh… when I get my hands on Celesio, I will choke her…" Kreon told herself in the reflection, almost like a personal pact. She looked to Cambridge who still was absorbing the shock of this.

"Alright, that's it. we're going hunting right now-whooooa!" Kreon fell straight to the floor. Her legs were still not up to walking from the very long slumber and doses of medicine from surgery. Cambridge quickly went over and helped her back up into bed.

"You aren't able to do anything," Cambridge stated, "Thanks a lot for all you've done… but-"

Kreon grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. "But what? You going to break down and cry again for your mommy?! That isn't going to do anything, you idiot!"

Kreon, after a pause from shouting at his face, handed Cambridge her custom inkbrush. He quirked an eyebrow in confusion, though had no intention to cry for another few hours.

"You remember our deal at the battle tower?" Kreon reminded, "If your team won, I'd teach you how to use an inkbrush. Well, you get my inkbrush since you were going to win."

"Wait, what? Isn't it really valuable to you?" the young boy replied confusedly.

"I have another one! Just shut up and take it! I'm the inkbrush master, and you need to know one thing… your instincts and reflexes are the best tools with that weapon, stay calm and rely on them and you'll be fine. Am I making myself clear?" Kreon explained. Cambridge quickly nodded, feeling afraid of her. She pointed to the door.

"Go find that briefcase because your friend's trial starts today. You've gotta get those coins right now, before he goes behind bars," Kreon added. Trials in Inkopolis only lasted three days at most in the city's present system, to bypass clogging up the judicial system. Alizarin's trial was about to begin today. Cambridge quickly felt bad for spending the entire night last night crying. Because he knew the prosecution would be out to get a quick conviction.

"Al-alright just take it easy… um… before I go, Kreon, can I ask you something?" he quirked. She sighed, laying back on her hospital bed, annoyed.

"What?"

"Why do you suddenly care about us?" Cambridge questioned, "I thought you hated me and Alizarin."

"I feel bad for you, alright? I lost all my friends as well as my rank in just a few hours. I just want to salvage something from this, okay? Just… think of my scale as a good luck charm on top of my weapon," Kreon replied. Cambridge looked down at his necklace with the three teeth and the green scale on it. He took the inkbrush putting it on his side before he left, glad to know that for once, she actually cared. Even if it was aggressively hidden.

"I won't let you down, Ali…"


	14. Jellyfish Harbor

Cambridge had left the hospital with Callie, Marie and Rackley. All four of them were making their way toward the eastern part of Inkopolis where the docks were, mostly for fishing, but it had a huge storage area there as well. The young blue squid however knew it a lot more than his friends, mostly because the docks were named Jellyfish Harbor, his mother's former workplace. He looked over the new inkbrush he had gotten, trying to keep his thoughts off it to hide from the more unknown depressing past of his.

"Anyone know what to expect when we get there?" Callie asked, not really sure what they would be up against. Their friend had informed them of exactly how scary Crion was, but he had no idea what he looked like and no clue where Celesio was at the moment after that battle in the apartments that had left quite a horrific outcome with Kreon. There were assumingly a lot of workers serving Crion, and with salt water weaponry to scare those who got in their way.

"Lots of baddies to splatter, rude inklings, their angry mob boss and maybe a really upset pinchling?" Marie guessed. She wondered how Celesio was doing, though according to the costumed prism squid ranger, she had taken an inkzooka at point blank range. If the blast from the crab claw salt water blaster scarred Kreon's face, they wondered what the inkzooka had done in trade.

"I've fought thousands of enemies singlehandedly before! I shall fight no matter the odds!" Rackley exclaimed. Cambridge asked himself how Kreon exactly recruited this Agent 3 to help her, if they were this weird.

"Rackley, your bravery is great on screen, but please focus on getting the coins," Callie giggled a little, pulling the costumed squid to her side for a partial hug. She admired his spirit and dedication to his role, even if his motive was not exactly the most normal. It was great to have him as a co-worker and best friend.

"I wish I had a jet squelcher instead…" Cambridge muttered. He had no clue on inkbrush wielding beyond Kreon's advice, but this custom inkbrush felt so light and smooth that it was too tempting to let go, almost like it was made to fit into his hands, and feel so expensive that it could not be dropped at any given moment. After all, the blue inkling felt like if he lost this weapon, Kreon would kill him.

"Well, here we are," Cambridge welcomed the group to Jellyfish Harbor, a somewhat empty dock full of storage facilities lined up one side of the harbor, and on the piers were mostly filled with fishermen with some boats set up to go on their own personal sailing journeys. The world had been flooded a long time ago, wiping out a lot of races on it. When the water began retracting back to lower levels, squids jellyfish and octopi evolved to become what they were today, yet these pinchlings were an odd new race, never documented before in history.

"Wow… it looks a lot better than I thought it would," Marie confessed. She expected this old area to be very run down by now, but surprisingly the city had been doing well to keep it in shape, with some help from the very workers that managed the area on a daily basis.

"I wonder if mom's old boss still works here?" Cambridge quirked, his tentacles wrapping around himself for comfort. He felt a lot more calm knowing his friends were with him, though for some reason he felt a newly strangely fast forged but odd bond with Rackley. He had a great heart and calming aura, and their tentacles had the same blue coloration and orange tinge, making him feel almost like he knew him a lot better than he really did.

"Well, we do need permission to go into the storage facilities without being a worker…" Callie mumbled in agreement. If this old boss of Zaffre's did work here, it would be grandly better to find him and get permission, rather than sneaking around to try and find the right storage facility. Worst case scenario, they could bribe him. It was not like it would be hard, considering how many coin cards the Squid Sisters themselves had.

As the group continued into the area, Cambridge heard his cellphone ringing. He pulled it out and brought it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Honey! Thank goodness you answered. Are you done playing with your friend?" Zaffre asked, sounding nervous. It didn't give him a sense of good news.

"Um… no? What's wrong?" the blue inkling's son responded as they arrived to one small building on the harbor. There were a few other inklings inside working away on their usual activities. His friends were waiting on him to finish his phone call.

"Alizarin's trial started a bit ago. He's not exactly helping himself here… he's not saying anything! Just sitting there with his eyes closed during the entire trial so far," Zaffre described. He was doing nothing at all, not showing any emotion, and just looking creepy by not reacting at all. It was not helping his case at all for the judge. His defense attorney of course was doing his best, but the prosecutor seemed pretty accurate with each theory, since there was no evidence against his claims.

"Oh, jeez…" Cambridge shuddered. It sounded like his best friend had lost all hope in being saved.

"Don't worry, mom. We've almost got the evidence to prove him innocent," Cambridge reassured.

"Wait, what? Honey, what are you doing? Please tell me you let detective Granite know about this," Zaffre instead heard the phone call hang up. Cambridge looked at his cellphone confusedly. It had died on him apparently. He had forgotten to recharge it last night, so it ran out of power. He pocketed his cellphone, deciding to worry about it later, they had to focus on getting the very item to prove their friend innocent. Just then, they saw an adult squid in his early fifties, wearing leather gear and overalls stepping outside.

"Oh, excuse me, squiddies," the elder said tiredly.

"Mister David?" Cambridge spoke, recognizing the man as his mom's old boss. The years had not been too kind to him, judging by his hunched back and cane.

"Eh? Well, ain't this a sight for my old eyes. Cambridge?" David happily recognized the young boy. That was a relief to his friends. The Squid Sisters did not want to have to undergo suspicion, trying to understand some old affiliation that the two had.

"Mister David, you remember me?" Cambridge had to admit his surprise to the elder's memory. The old inkling rubbed the blue squids head.

"Heheh… of course I do. You were such a hyper squirt, always running around making the workers laugh, embarrassing your mother… you sure aren't much taller since I last saw ya though," David admitted. When Zaffre brought her son to work when he was really young, he was the one to lighten any mood. A lot had occurred and changed since then, some things better than worse.

"I'm glad you remember me, sir… um, we need access to storage unit D-3," Cambridge explained.

"Please, it is very urgent," Rackley added to their friend's plight. The elder tilted his head, thinking on it for a minute. He rummaged around, pulling the key to unit D-3 out of his pocket.

"Funny ya mention that. I was about to go check to see if it was locked. No one's using it now, but I'm worried a few rough squids might've made it their hangout spot," David tossed the key to Cambridge. It bounced of his chest and he almost missed it, but thankfully caught it after the fifth panicked swipe, sighing in relief.

"You can check it out, squiddos, just lock it up once you're done, and bring the key back," the elder stated.

"We will!" Callie eagerly said.

"Thanks a lot," Marie added. The four immediately headed began to head toward the warehouse, but before Cambridge could go with them, he heard the old man cough, getting his attention.

"Cambridge, when you get the chance, I'd like to talk to you privately… in my office," David claimed, sounding quite serious.

"Okay…" the blue inkling nodded his head. He ran off ahead to get to his friends, wondering what he would want to talk about privately. He and the elder hadn't seen each other for years. He doubted there would be much to be said at all about it. He brushed it aside while continuing on his way, making a note to drop by later.

The group of four took only a few seconds to get to the right area, with the huge number reading D-3 on the front of the storage unit. There was a lock keeping the entrance shutter closed. Cambridge noted how scratched and torn up it was. He put the key into the lock, and with a turn, it popped off, clattering to the ground.

"Help me with this?" Cambridge requested. Rackley, Callie and Marie all grabbed onto the bottom of the shutter and began to lift as hard as they could. The shutter was quite heavy, as it took a lot of effort from them all. They finally began to hear it slide upwards, and they let go, watching it open up. What they found inside was exactly what they expected.

"Well, well, well… I don't recall inviting y'all here…" that familiar voice rung out. There was a man wearing a suit looking on the heavyset side of the weight scale. On his head was a fedora with a sunflower on the side of it. He had poor looking teeth, like he had been force fed rocks. Crion showed himself in all of his glory, an elderly pinchling, perhaps in his late eighties. He was not alone, either. Many inklings were also inside the warehouse storage unit on the upper banister, around crates, moving various supplies and items. Nearby was Jelek who was tied up to a chair, looking quite badly beaten.

"You must be Crion," Marie gritted her teeth. Before the elder pinchling could speak up, another familiar face appeared. Celesio walked out from the back room, and they noticed a drastic difference. Both of her eyes were originally blue, but now her right eye was tainted green, a nasty scar across it in shape of a tilted X. That inkzooka blast to the face had done a number on her, just like what the saltwater blast had done to Kreon.

"Oh my gosh! Grandpa! That's them! Those were the ruffians that assaulted me when I was on MY search for the coins! They ruined my pearl-like perfected eyes!" Celesio exclaimed, pointing her grandfather to them all. Cambridge pulled out the custom inkbrush nervously, seeing all these squids cast their gaze on the four of them with very hostile stances and looks in their eyes.

"We know you killed Alizarin's dad," Callie got her krak-on roller off her back, Marie getting her custom E-liter 3k charger off her side, and Rackley wielding his luna blaster.

"Hand over the briefcase, and we won't fight…" Rackley added.

"Ye-yeah…" Cambridge had no moment fitting words to say. He felt weak to use a weapon he had little experience wielding, having usually stuck to a jet squelcher for most turf wars he had played.

"Heheh… you dumb squids think you're so important. Let me tell ya something. I ain't touched your friend's dad. I've been here ever since your buddy there stole MY money," Crion put a thumb to his own chest. None of them could speak up before the angry crustacean suddenly slammed a huge left claw through the table, having partially transformed. The table broke in half, sending wooden splinters everywhere. His claw hand turned back to normal. Another surprise to add to the many, as pinchlings had the ability to turn into crabs apparently, the very thing they evolved from.

"You got a lotta nerve… you steal millions of coins from the first being of the newest race to the world, scar my granddaughter, and ruin that beautiful eye… and you come barging in here declaring me a murderer?" the elder crab continued, cracking his own neck.

Cambridge was too frozen with fear to say anything. The three agents now made note that all of the other squids in this room were arming themselves immediately with no hesitation, looking ready for the command to splatter them all.

"I won't deny. If you had only done the first and last things, I'd admire your courage… but the rest of it all… 'course not. You ain't gonna get away with for free. I'll make sure you're all drowned in salt water!" Crion began laughing as the shutter behind the four inklings slammed shut. One of his underlings had snuck past them outside and had trapped them in the warehouse. The elder crab laughed as he began to walk away to get out through a back exit, Celesio stepping forward with her saltwater-filled mop brush in hand, her scarred green eye housing a flame of undying rage for Kreon injuring her. Jelek was still off to the side, desperately trying to wriggle out of his bindings.

"You won't be getting anywhere near that case!"


	15. Warehouse Brawl

The group of four were scattered and hiding in different locations, taking cover from strong blasts of ink that were raining from the inklings on the upper platform. The enemies below were firing away just as much. It was nearly impossible for the group to get any opening to attack. Celesio watched from the middle, enjoying to scene of the trapped squids. The coin card filled briefcase lay beside her at the broken table.

"Wha-what do we d-do?!" Cambridge cried to his friends, hiding behind two crates with Rackley. The Squid Sisters were hiding together behind a table they had knocked over to take cover behind. So far it was holding, but it was only a matter of time before the enemies in the warehouse keeping them pinned down would begin their slow approach.

"We fight bravely! That is what heroes of justice do!" Rackley declared, his luna blaster tight in his hand. He hopped over the wooden crates, dodging several blasts of ink, beginning to open fire. Three of their attackers were splattered into puddles of blue ink before he dove forward landing on his chest halfway behind a forklift. His leg got hit by a blast of orange ink, but he immediately pulled himself behind the forklift.

"I wish I-I had my jet squelcher right now…" Cambridge whimpered, watching Rackley's impressive move. Agent 3 had skill that he had not gotten much use of out of his training with the Squid Sisters and their grandfather since the octarian army was defeated.

"Leave it to us!" Callie grinned. Her and Marie's tentacles began to glow brightly with a blazing energy. Their special weapon moves were ready.

"Yeah! You grab the briefcase!" Marie added. The Squid Sisters looking to each other with smiles, their confidence flourishing with grace, though Marie usually kept up an act to give her cousin more confidence. This was one of the rare times she felt overly energetic and excited, like a squirt on squidmas day. Cambridge nodded, taking in a deep breath. He swung the custom inkbrush, splashing part of the wall with blue ink. He turned into his squid form, beginning to swim up the ink to get to the upper floor, thinking he had to get rid of the chargers and ranged attackers first.

"Ready, Marie?" Callie grinned to her cousin.

"Ready, Callie." Marie grinned back.

The Squid Sisters both dove out from hiding, charging right at the group of inklings in front of Celesio, both hitting the buttons on their weapons. They both immediately switched into their squid forms, but then quickly grew in size. They both had become krakens, another one of many abilities these weapons had, with an immunity to all ink and the ability to splatter anyone they touched. The pinchling jumped back, watching a huge tentacle swung by Callie which knocked half the group of hostile squids aside, instantly splattering them into pink ink as their bodies hit the walls.

"Well, things have escalated far more than usual," Rackley had to admit. Even for him this was crazy. However, a charger laser snuck its way and aimed for the back of his head, about to splatter him. Cambridge landed on the railing behind the pink squid with a loud clang, having fallen flat on the platform of the second floor.

"Ohhh…" the young blue inkling looked up, seeing the charger now aimed at him, the girl wielding it smirking cockily.

"What kind of idiot tries to fight a charger with a brush?" she rhetorically asked while squeezing the trigger.

"M-me?" Cambridge gulped. The inkling sniper let go of the trigger, and a blast of pink ink went flying at him. He swung the inkbrush upward reflexively, which hit the pink ink with his blue ink, causing just a small mess to splatter everywhere.

"Oh, you lucky shrimp! …uh oh!" the pink inkling got splattered into blue ink with one slash. Cambridge had to admit that the custom inkbrush felt great to swing. He continued running around, watching the kraken Squid Sisters bashing and splattering anyone that threatened them, with Rackley taking pot shots at anyone in his range. They did not have much longer though before their forms ran out of energy. Cambridge was trying to get behind the action so he could get the briefcase with ease.

"Enough of this," Celesio glared, approaching the kraken Marie.

"Sorry, I'll make it quick," Marie apologized. Most inklings would enjoy actively picking another person up and slowly splattering them in their tentacles while they were in kraken form. However, the white firefly squid just hated that, finding it better to just instantly splatter others, even if they had done despicable acts.

"Bring it on, wimp!" the pinchling mocked as the Squid Sister swung her tentacle at her. Celesio swung her mop brush, watching it smack the tentacle to the ground. Marie could not react before the weapon sunk into her giant tentacle, and the saltwater seeped in.

"Ahhh!" Marie let out a loud cry of agony. The feeling of the saltwater on her tentacle felt horribly burning like her tentacle was stuck on a bonfire. The red skinned pinchling laughed in amusement.

"Knock it off!" Rackley charged at her, ignoring the other inklings firing at him. He tackled Celesio, making her release the kraken's tentacle. Callie and Marie turned back to normal. Marie fell over holding her sensitive tentacle in agony. Callie ran over to her cousin with deep concern, helping her off the ground.

"Marie! Come on get up!" Callie cried, though was hit in the back by red ink, feeling the stinging pain. She grit her teeth, before she hoisted her cousin up bridal style into her arms, running off ahead with her to take cover.

"Get off me!" Celesio kicked the costumed Agent 3 off her, knocking his luna blaster away. The squid ranger groaned, feeling like a rib had been broken by that kick. The pinchling leapt at him with her weapon raised overhead. However, a familiar inkbrush clashed with her saltwater mop brush and halted it.

"Sto-stop this!" Cambridge said, having a tight grip on the inkbrush as he pushed it against the mop brush. Two inklings were about to shoot him, but Rackley quickly retrieved his luna blaster and splattered them with two shots of sphere shaped ink.

"I already beat that dragon girl! You think I have a problem beating a weak squirt like you?" Celesio laughed, pulling her weapon back and then spinning around, slashing him with a painful lash of saltwater that hit him across the chest. Cambridge grit his teeth, holding his chest in pain. He panted, having to use his inkbrush to stay standing like a crutch.

"Ple-please… just give us th-the briefcase! You can ke-keep the coins," Cambridge begged, trying to reach a compromise. He felt immense pain in his chest. Another inkling was about to fire at him with their rapid blaster. Callie, seeing this, took her cousin's charger and aimed it, squeezing the trigger until it was fully charged. She quickly let go, seeing a blast of green ink go fly toward the enemy squid and hit his face, splattering him.

"I'll give you the case… if you can hit me once," Celesio offered with a giggle. She could tell how little skill he had with the custom inkbrush, which she recognizing it as Kreon's. Cambridge closed his eyes, wincing as another twinge of pain went through his chest, hoping the saltwater would dry off soon. He did not want to strip his shirt off to feel better.

"Fi-fine!" Cambridge agreed.

"Oh, goody! Everyone!" Celesio happily spoke aloud to the last twenty squids remaining in the warehouse, "Don't attack this squid right here! He's mine!"

Cambridge did not get a chance to even gather himself before she lunged at him, swinging her weapon. He ducked under it, watching the saltwater filled weapon fly over his head, barely missing him. He retaliated, swinging his inkbrush, but missing when she stepped back. He just had to get that one hit, but it was hard. The pinchling was so calm that it was actually scaring him.

Cambridge tried to stand back up, but Celesio spun around and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him back in a painful hit. The blue squid coughed, having landed on his back, feeling the wind get knocked out of him. Everything felt slow at that given moment. Everything flooded in his mind. His friends, his memories. He imagined the fate of his best friend, all because he couldn't touch one person in one melee fight. He only had one option left. His tentacles began blazing bright blue in a raging aura of energy. He stood up hitting the button on the custom inkbrush. It changed into an inkzooka and brought it to his shoulder. He almost stumbled over, but he held onto it, trying to put on the best determined look on his face.

"Wa-wait! That's cheating!" Celesio was about to activate her special weapon, waiting for the mopbrush to change into the crab cannon.

"I-I can't lose Ali!" Cambridge pulled the trigger, the inkzooka firing a giant blast of blue ink. The pinchling took it directly to the chest, sent flying back into the wall and being splattered into a puddle of the blue goo. The blue squid was panting. He hated to cheat like that, but the only rule he could recall was just having to hit her once, and he did that successfully. By now, Callie and Rackley had finished off all of the enemies left in the warehouse.

"Are you alright?" Rackley asked. Marie nodded, though still looked in horrible pain. The group did notice Jelek had escaped his bindings, and as result had made his own escape during the fight.

"I'll ge-get over it…" she said, glad to have Agent 3's care. She felt silly for having been caught and injured like that. Callie rubbed her cousin's back, assuring it was all okay. Cambridge put his custom inkbrush on his back once it turned back to normal. He quickly approached the briefcase and picked it up with a big smile on his face. One minor examination however presented a bloodstain on the corner of the briefcase. It had landed in the puddle of blue blood at the crime scene when Alizarin dropped it after being strangled into unconsciousness.

"Now we just gotta get to the courthouse!"


	16. Verdict

**Authors Note: This chapter officially marks the end of this arc. I hope you all liked it! Please let me know what you think of it with a review!**

The group of four had took the very long trip across Inkopolis to get to the courthouse. It was hard to do so though when all the group but Callie were in pain. Her cousin Marie was helping Rackley, who was doing his best to put on a bravest face, but his ribcage felt like it had been rattled hard in that fight. Marie's injured tentacle was still throbbing in pain. Cambridge kept his grip tight on the briefcase, looking around himself in a paranoid fashion. No one blamed him for this though, considering what they had to go through to get that briefcase. It would be a nightmarish disaster to lose it.

"There's the courthouse!" Rackley happily stated. He didn't even know Alizarin yet, and after all that hard fighting and hours of work and energy of his own being drained, he was glad to know he helped save him from a false guilty sentencing. The group rushed right across the road and through the partially formed crowd into the courthouse. When they got inside, Cambridge crashed into somebody, almost knocking them over but they caught their balance.

"Ow! Squiddies, come on, you almost made me spill my milk," Granite spoke up, holding his stomach in slight pain from the hard collision, though they recognized each other easily. The young blue inkling had seen his mother talking to the detective before.

"De-detective Granite! We got the evidence to-to prove Alizarin innocent!" Cambridge presented the briefcase. The detective seemed happy to hear this, taking it.

"Wow… Alizarin has some real great friends… but the problem is, proving it was there in the first place, but judging by the blood, I think the judge will gladly pause the trial for a quick forensics screening," Granite stated. The Squid Sisters were relieved, glad to know they had not missed their friend's trial. The fear of being too late had plagued their heads.

"It was at Jellyfish Harbor across town," Rackley added to the helpful information, Marie handing over the piece of paper that Crion had sent to Jelek which threatened him for messing up horribly. They still had no clue where the jellyfish had run off to after escaping the warehouse. The group of five made their way off to the courtroom with the detective in charge of the case, who was happy to have this evidence. However, bad news came as they arrived to courtroom number 4's door and stopped outside it.

"Look, you squiddos wait out here… but I have to let you know that even if he is proven innocent, there is still something bad that is going to happen… not just to Alizarin either," Granite exclaimed in apology, and he rushed in through the doors, which then closed behind him.

"I think I'm gonna pass out…" Cambridge muttered, taking a seat in one of a nearby many row of chairs that were set up in the hallways. He was physically and emotionally tired, feeling like this was a moment of his life that would be hard to move on from. He didn't even want to imagine what detective Granite meant by this.

"That makes two of us… being defenders of justice is a rewarding but tiring task," Rackley added, sitting in the floor in front of the seats and resting his head back, the Squid Sisters taking their own seats beside the blue squid.

"Sorry you guys got hurt being wrangled into this mess," Cambridge felt bad for them all. Each of them received their own varying degree of injury. Kreon taking the worst of damage back then only added to the boy's guilt, but he hoped she would feel a lot better when she heard that her injury was not in vain. Though Cambridge still needed to see what David wanted with him, when he gets the chance.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Marie reassured she would get over her tentacles' throbbing injury in a few days.

"We were glad to help! Alizarin's our friend, too! I just wish he'd quit trying to ask us out so much…" Callie stated, aware that he tried to set her and her cousin up often on a double date, but that was before he even knew they were the Squid Sisters. They hoped it didn't escalate with that revelation.

"I'm glad to spend any amount of time if it helps prove innocence to those falsely accused," Rackley smiled brightly, though he was nearly out of energy now. The squid ranger was trying to get his energy back at the moment, but now all the group of four could do was wait until the trial was over and hope that they get a not guilty verdict for their friend. Delaying the trial to be continued for the last two days would be a lot better than the guilty verdict charges for most murderers for death, rather than life in prison. Just another one of the many nightmares on Cambridge's list that he had last night.

Three hours passed. The clock struck two in the afternoon. Callie was the first to fall asleep, her head resting on her cousin's shoulder. Rackley had used his own tentacles as a pillow, sleeping against Marie while she was playing on her phone, she did not mind the costumed squid slumbering on her leg though. Finding it kind of cute. Cambridge was barely staying awake. Marie, being the only other one awake, looked immensely bored, but was playing games on her phone to entertain herself. Ink Ninja was a favorite of hers, where she slashed away at tons of blobs of ink to hit other enemies with their own attacks reflected back at them, or just to create a big mess the ladder.

"Hey! Wake up!" a familiar voice bellowed, the four snapping out of their drowsiness. The scarred, but angry Kreon stood there in a red jacket and black bike shorts.

"Kreon! You're out of the hospital," Cambridge exclaimed, happy to see her out of recovery. He couldn't help himself as he hugged her tight. The dragon squid groaned in annoyance before breaking the embrace.

"I left the second I felt better. I couldn't call you because that idiot took my phone!" Kreon pointed to Agent 3. The costumed inkling chuckled nervously, pulling the cellphone out of his pocket, having let it completely slip his mind. He returned it to her. She had come to the courthouse, planning on waiting for them there, but they beat her here by a couple of hours.

"What's got you so angry now?" Marie sighed, pocketing her cellphone. She wished she could just keep enjoying her game, but she doubted she would be able to. The dragon squid rubbed her arm, hesitant to answer.

"Uh… you didn't catch Celesio or give me my coins before you gave it to be submitted as evidence," Kreon answered. As believable as that felt, it still came off like a lie. They figured she had a personal issue that she could share later if she wanted to. They wouldn't go prying in her personal life for information that she did not want to tell.

"We had to splatter nearly a hundred squids to even get the case. I'm sure you'll get your coins back," Callie declared, her arms a bit sore from using the roller of hers so often with little rest, but she would get over it. She was a lot stronger than she looked, and the same went for her cousin.

Finally, after all this time, they saw the doors of the courtroom open up, and Zaffre and Granite stepped out. The blue inkling's mother looked shocked to see Rackley. She knew him in a way, but he didn't know her. Rackley was wondering why she was staring at him so confusedly, but he got over it.

"What happened?" Cambridge requested to know the verdict, presuming they both had just left before anyone else could exit the courtroom.

"You squids are really something else. The briefcase had his foster dad's blood on it, and there was no way that Alizarin could've murdered his father and took a briefcase all the way across town to the harbor before calling 911 in less than five minutes," Granite explained the defense's immediate argument that they had used upon receiving the evidence that was proven to be the key tide turner on matters.

"He's not guilty," Zaffre simply spoke. The squids all cheered, except for Kreon who noticed the detective's focus on her. He looked depressed, looking at her like more bad news was on its way. After a brief moment, the courtroom let out, and standing there was the familiar red inkling with the crown hair band on his head.

"Alizarin!" Cambridge tackled his friend, pulling him into a tight hug, hearing him laugh.

"Whoa! Yo-you got a little stronger," Alizarin commented, realizing he was being picked up off the ground slightly. Callie and Marie then joined in on the hug. Rackley smiled, watching from beside the dragon squid. The scene was quite heart-warming to him. The older squids watched the sweet scene as well. While they had their reunion, the detective took the blue mothers hand and pulled her aside for a private discussion.

"What is it?" Zaffre asked.

"Miss Verlegen… you're a nice woman with a great son, and he has some great friends I can tell, but… I'm gonna have to take Alizarin and Kreon away," Granite stated. Immediately, he was grabbed by his collar by the stunned mother, about to get a hard pounding.

"Why?! What possible good reason is there to take him away, and to where?!" Zaffre demanded in rage. If she did not get a good answer, she would brutalize the detective with no hesitation. The milk loving detective shook his head, planning to be honest with her, since it was her very son and their friends who proved him innocent. Zaffre still had little care over what happened to Kreon for her cruelty toward her son, though if the dragon squid had done nothing, then Alizarin would have gotten a guilty sentence without her forming the group to find the briefcase.

"Ma-ma'am! I don't like it either, but look. What happens to an adopted squid whose only adoptive guardian is now dead?" Granite questioned.

"…they… go back to foster care. But what does that have to do with…"

"Exactly! Even if he was proven innocent, who is going to want to adopt a child that was accused of murder?" Granite was unfortunately correct, "He's gonna have to leave Inkopolis if he wants any hope of being adopted by another family."

One small pause, and Zaffre let him go. The squid protective services or adoption agencies would do their best to find him a home, but the problem was that they were required to disclose any information of criminal history or even minor accusations that the squids receive with potential foster parents. At least, within the city they were accused.

"And about Kreon Blodskam… she fled to Inkopolis. She ran away from her mother who ran an adoption agency, but the squids she was hired to take care of would have their tentacles cut off and eaten," Granite explained, showing his case file.

"The Tentacle Eater Case?" Zaffre's eye twitched. It was long since solved, but Zaffre had to admit that it sounded horrifying, and Kreon's mother had received life in jail, whilst her father was deceased.

"By law, I have to take Kreon back to her hometown in Eel Valley for her to be up for adoption as well," the one tentacled detective finished his explanation, taking his case file back and beginning to make his way to the group that was retelling their tale about what happened with Alizarin. They all went silent when they heard the adult squid cough.

"Um… squiddies, you all are great people. You have a bond of friendship that can last forever, but Alizarin and Kreon will have to leave Inkopolis."

Shock and terror surged through each member of the group. Kreon glared angrily, about to run, but there was too much of a crowd. The other courtrooms had recently let out for a small recess at unfortunate simultaneous times, and now there was an unbreakable sea of squids filling the lobby.

"Wha-what?!" Cambridge gasped.

"Why?!" Callie and Marie said shocked. The detective thought he would have to go over this with them too, but Alizarin sighed.

"I know. Detective Granite's been very support to me, but he told me during a visit that if I get out, I have no hope of being adopted again if I stay in Inkopolis…" Alizarin explained for the detective who had told him in a jail visit to interrogate him.

"Ali…" Cambridge shuddered. He was broken.

"And Kreon is a runaway, which is why she has to leave, too. I'm just doing my job. Trust me on this, that I hate it as much as you squiddies do," Granite extended his deepest of condolences. Kreon felt upset at the memory of her reasons for running away. She wanted to run far away from them, but she still couldn't because of the crowds.

"Wait!" Zaffre called out as she stepped up, getting between Granite and the teenage inklings. Rackley had to admit that this was so dramatic that he was making notes of it for a possible episode on his own show.

"I'll adopt them!" the blue inkling's mother declared.

"Wait, Miss Verlegen!" the detective stopped her, "You need special papers and need to be registered as a foster paren-"

"I have them! Ten years ago a friend of mine was afraid of what might happen to her child, if she got into an accident. She had me sign up as one, in trade she did the same in case I ever died and needed someone to take care of Cambridge. Just go look, bud," Zaffre never imagined a friend's past paranoia would come in handy, but she was not going to let her son lose his best friend. The dragon squid however, she was going to give a second chance for all of her hard work, and the new scar she bared to show that effort. She was hoping maybe a kind, loving, tough mother was all that she would need to change her hostile mindset. Cambridge, Alizarin and Kreon all looked to each other. The two squids had no choice if they wanted to stay in Inkopolis.

"We're going to be siblings?"


	17. SplatFest

It had been a week since Alizarin had been cleared of his murder charges, and only six days since he and Kreon had been adopted by Zaffre. The newly formed bigger family were happy that no one had to leave Inkopolis. They still were taking time to get used to this newly forged bond. However, it turned out the briefcase that the group had fought so hard for, had no coin cards in it. Kreon was upset, but assumed that Crion had made off with the coins.

Cambridge was slumbering away peacefully in his pajamas, hugging his pillow close and drooling on it. When his alarm clock struck six in the morning, it began beeping. The young blue inkling sat up, but bumped his head. He was not used to this new bunk bed yet, he was now sleeping on the bottom bunk of it. That had only been gotten a few days ago.

"My head…" Cambridge held his head in pain, getting out of his bed and cutting off the alarm clock. In the nearby other side of the room, Kreon was sleeping in his old bed, when she declared she hated bunk beds and would either be falling off the upper bunk or hitting her head in the lower part. He understood how she felt now. The dragon squid slept in white pajamas, with a pattern of rubber ducks all over it. She seemed to be sleeping calmly with a great dream, like she had not slept in an actual bed in ages.

"Hm?" Cambridge raised an eyebrow, hearing snoring. He looked at the upper bunk. Alizarin lay on his stomach, snoring away, his tentacles loose and his crown hairband lying on the nightstand. His pajamas were black with a rainbow stripe going around his shoulders to form an X. Cambridge sighed, still having trouble getting used to this. Having new adoptive siblings felt erratically different, especially since one was his best friend and the other had mixed feelings towards him.

Cambridge looked at Kreon's scar once more. Every morning he did, and he felt nothing but guilt from it, despite the injury not being painful anymore and only being a bother to the dragon squid's physical appearance and vision. The dragon inkling accepted the scar as a new method to intimidate her enemies with. However, the blue inkling's thought process was broken as he suddenly felt something fall on top of him which landed hard enough to shake the alarm clock off the table when he hit the floor.

Kreon immediately woke when she heard this noise, sitting up. She saw nothing around. She pulled herself over to the side of her bed to see Alizarin on top of Cambridge, both lying in the floor. The poor red inkling had forgotten once again that he was in the top of a bunk bed and had fallen out onto his foster brother's back, and they both had gained quite a bit of pain from this odd morning already.

"You two awake?" Kreon smirked. The boys groaned in pain. It took a moment before they both began to get back onto their feet, not enjoying the rough wake up. After a moment, the three left their bedroom and went in separate directions, Kreon taking the bathroom while Alizarin followed Cambridge down the hall into the living room. And into the kitchen, their breakfasts were already prepared. On the left of the table was a bowl of burn blaster cereal, which was meant to be super-hot. It was the red inkling's favorite. Cambridge guessed his breakfast was the gravy biscuit and eggs on the side to the right of the table. On the other part was some bacon and toast. The two young boys took their seats before beginning to eat away, though the blue inkling noticed that his red adopted brother was using two spoons at once to eat as much of the cereal as he could, not caring about the spicy heat in each bite.

"Glad you two are up. Where's Kreon?" Zaffre spoke, coming from the living room, wearing her turf official uniform. While not the biggest fan of the suit, she was tolerating it. She had prepared her children breakfast beforehand. The mother was doing her best to stay confident and calm, with raising the children.

"Bathroom," Alizarin tilted the cereal bowl back and began to drink it all. Cambridge just stared, wondering how his friend had such a high tolerance to spicy food. The blue squid's mother came over, kissing her son's cheek before rubbing Alizarins head.

"What have you two got planned today?" Zaffre handed the box of burn blaster cereal to her adoptive son. He thanked her while taking it, happy to have a second helping of the spicy cereal. Cambridge swallowed his mouthful of biscuit. He had made plans for today, when normally he would just follow his new siblings along for their ideas, but he had something to check out.

"I'm going to see Mister David today at the harbor. He said he wanted to talk to me privately when I had the chance," Cambridge explained. He had sadly put that deal on the backburner, having spent the last week getting his new siblings moved in and helping them get used to their new home.

"Wow, he's still working at Jellyfish Harbor? Sheesh… that old man wasn't kidding when he said the best workers only quit when they're dead," Zaffre confessed in surprise. That old squid probably only had a few years left in his life, but he was going to be sticking to his beliefs of working himself into the ground.

"Well, tell him I said hi," she added, and then headed for the door. Kreon came to the kitchen and took her seat beginning to eat.

"Bye, I love you," Zaffre bid them goodbye, Kreon giving a half-hearted wave.

"I love you too," Cambridge happily replied.

"Bye mom, I love ya!" Alizarin added. Zaffre had to take that in for a second. She really was going to have to get used to this, but she was glad the red inkling was bonding with her well enough to call her mom with no hesitation. Zaffre closed the door behind her once she got outside.

"At least she's great at cooking," Kreon said while eating her food. That was one of the bigger compliments that they had heard from her recently. By now, Cambridge had finished his food and stood up, brushing the crumbs off himself. They watched him go into their room again. After a few moments, their blue brother came out in a black shirt with various colored musical notes all over it, and a pair of blue shorts.

"I'll see you guys later," Cambridge told them, beginning to head for the door.

"You don't want us to come with you? Jellyfish Harbor didn't sound safe when you talked about it…" Alizarin questioned, though admittedly he was only going off the information they had been told about the giant fight that had broken out inside just one warehouse.

"Sorry, but Mister David wanted to talk to me personally he said… if I get into trouble, I'll call you guys," Cambridge reassured.

"Have fun," Kreon just let him head out the door while she continued on eating her breakfast. The pinchlings were still free and they had not found the one who had murdered Alizarin's adoptive father, though Alizarin was doing his best to get past it, glad he had his friends and new family to help him through it all. He could not survive a day away from Inkopolis. The dragon squid herself did not think she would have continued living if she had returned to her hometown. Kreon was trying her hardest to be nicer to those who saved her from being thrown out of Inkopolis and into foster care.

Cambridge waited on the sidewalk outside, having called for a taxi already. They had informed him one was nearby, so it should not have been much longer before they would arrive. However, his phone suddenly beeped indicating a new important alert from his emails. He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, tapping the screen seeing the email.

"The next splatfest!" a video was attached to the email. He tapped on the link, turning his phone sideways as the video began to load. Splatfests were huge events where the whole city participated in a big party. Two teams were made, and inklings fought for which team they sided in until whatever side was dominant. They were quite popular and always made things hectic. When the video loaded, he saw the Squid Sisters on screen, bright and cheerful. This video was posted a few hours ago. He had to admit that he was impressed by their energy to work from the early mornings to late nights.

"Hey, squids and squidettes!" they said in unison, "It's time for the next splatfest!"

Cambridge found it adorable how great the two worked together, at least for being cousins instead of sisters. They had high twin quality of bond. Callie put on a pair of blocky sunglasses, like they were pulled majestically from an NES game.

"The new splatfest theme will be Retro Gaming…" Callie led her cousin into finishing it like usual for the scripts, Marie putting on a pair of weird, high quality helmet with brightly colored in ink decals, based off an in game hero character from one of the popular new titles, Squids at War.

"…versus Modern Gaming! Which one is better? Personally, I find modern gaming better! It's more realistic and adds elements that retro gaming has trouble capturing, and with much higher graphics," Marie put up her side of the argument. Her cousin, laughed shaking her head.

"But Marieeee!" She whined, like the script said, "Retro gaming is the best! It's so bright colorful and fun! And since the graphics aren't high, nearly all computers can handle them! There's so much fun to be had with retro games. Let's face it, realism is boring, and not to mention how much more coins new games cost compared to retro games!"

After one faked determined stare, they turned back to the camera with their bright smiles.

"Well, you heard it here! Go sign up for the team you'll fight for in the main plaza! And remember…" they struck a pose with their hands in the air, "Staaaaay fresh!"

The video ended. Cambridge blinked, having to admit it was more interesting than the last splatfest, though he knew everyone would gladly participate just for fun. The blue inkling was planning on joining the retro team, since most of his games he owned were retro, due to how much cheaper they were. Growing up, he had to save all his coins and spend wisely. Even so, he was not interested in gaming much, as he preferred playing in turf wars. Right on cue, his taxi arrived. He climbed into the back, glad the video helped to pass the time.

"To Jellyfish Harbor, please!"


	18. Tapes

**Authors Note: Surprise update the day after an update! I know I said I'd space this out every 2 days, but I wrote a good few chapters in advanced so I figured I'd update a day early for you all. Hope you enjoy!**

Cambridge had arrived back to Jellyfish Harbor after he had paid the taxi driver for the ride. He headed down the pier to the business office, where inklings would mostly go for renting storage units or to request permits for fishing. He stepped inside, the door closing behind him. Others were working inside this place that had not changed much since his mother had quit long ago. Trophies were set up on one shelf, a wall of employees were lined up, photos depicting the many workers that had worked there in the past.

"I remember that," Cambridge smiled, seeing a familiar picture of when he was a young squirt. Zaffre was in the center, flexing her muscles to show off with the blue squirt dangling from her left arm. The image depicted joy and merriment, though the teenage squid knew those were times of emotional recovery. His father being dead still was taking its toll on him and his mother, even today.

"Ah, there you are, Cambridge," a familiar voice spoke up. He looked over to see David approaching, his cane tapping the ground as he walked. The two of them shook hands.

"Hi, Mister David. Sorry for being so slow to meet up with you. It's been a busy week," Cambridge apologized.

"Don't worry about it," the elder waved a hand, brushing it aside. He understood what it was like to be a busy young squid. He missed his days of youth and all the turf wars he participated in. The blue squid began to realize that the elder was starting to daydream. He lightly shook the old man, snapping him out of it.

"Eh? Oh! Right, I needed to talk with you privately, so come to my office, if ya don't mind," David requested. He understood if he said no. Cambridge nodded, accepting, but he was scared about what the reason was. He had a terrified feeling up his spine. The two headed off up the stairs that were around the corner. The upper floor was more like a resting area for those who longed for a short sleep when they were drained from energy. He saw the small glass on a door that had writing on it, which read 'David's office'. The two headed inside, the door closing behind them, David closing the blinds and locking the door before going over to his desk getting behind it.

"Your office looks nice," Cambridge complimented, though the office had not changed one bit the last time he visited. Four filing cabinets were full of papers in need of organization, and a paper shredder beside them. Another two chairs were set up in front of the desk that had a computer on it. Cambridge noticed an all too familiar collection on the windowsill, which were tiny shaking figures that were meant to shake or dance in the sunlight. There were flowers and happy cacti, some very cutely decorated amiibo. There were amazingly so many of these figures. They were rare, yet David collected them because seeing things dancing in the sunlight always brought the old squid a smile. The young blue squid took a seat in front of the desk.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked. The elder squid began to rummage through his drawers which were also full of worthless paperwork to feed to a shredder on a very slow day for self-entertainment.

"It's about your father, Sheen Verlegen. I know, I'm sorry that I'm digging into very old wounds, especially personal, ones and believe me I hate being that kind of squid to bring up someone's most painful parts of their past," David extended his condolences. He hated to do this, but there was an exterior motive driving this meeting at the moment.

"It's alright, Mister David, I know you respected my dad… I won't hold it against you for just talking about him," Cambridge insisted, though that was a form of lie to himself. He knew not much about his father Sheen. All he learned about him was from his mother retelling tales of the silly things he did. The teeth on a necklace on Cambridge's neck, except the green scale, served as a reminder that sometimes sacrifices were forced to happen. His dad gave his life to save him and Zaffre when he was very young. It was upsetting to recall, but his memory was too fuzzy to fully remember.

"Ah, you're such a good squiddo… but before he died, your dad paid very handsomely for a special storage unit. He paid a lot of coins in advance to keep it under my security for the next forty years," David continued while pulling out a lot of keys on a key ring and beginning to sort through them to try and find the one he looked for.

"Wha-what?" Cambridge was confused. His father paid such a ridiculous amount of coins for storage. Sheen's friendship with David led to the rented unit being kept tightly under lock and key, even after he died. The son could assume one thing, that his mother didn't know about this. Otherwise the elderly owner wouldn't have invited him, because then Zaffre would have a key. It was almost like the elder squid was trying to avoid having the blue squid's mom here, even if it was important.

"Your old man told me the next time I see you when you're an inkling, I need to give you this key and let you go to storage warehouse E-1. Err… problem is I can't seem to find the darn thing," David muttered, not able to find the key until he accidentally knocked over an empty mug on his desk, seeing an envelope that had been used as a cup holder. He smiled, grabbing the closed letter. Cambridge took the letter confusedly, reading the front of it.

"To Cambridge Vergelen…" Cambridge read the envelope, then turned to David, "Um… thank you. I'll go see what's there."

At this point, Cambridge could assume that now he was the owner of the storage unit for the time being.

"Take it easy, squiddie. I should warn ya, there are some pretty scary things in some of these units that I don't know about, so be careful. I don't want Zaffre ripping my head off for you getting hurt," the elder inkling requested.

"I'll be careful, don't worry," Cambridge nodded, promising no harm would befall the nice elder. He left the room, the door closing shut behind him as he made his way quickly down the steps and outside, wanting to go to the storage unit E-1 immediately.

During his walk, Cambridge began opening the letter. When he did, the key fell out into his hand. It looked pretty pristine, having been in this letter for quite some time. He pocketed it, and then pulled the letter out, wanting to read it, wondering what his father had written that was so important. Upon fully opening the document, he witnessed lengthy letter. He was shocked when he noticed that the letter was addressed to him. He paused for a minute, confused and hesitating. He gathered himself quickly before focusing his eyes back on the old letter.

"Dear Cambridge, as I'm writing this letter, I must confess I am partially intoxicated. I went and saw a fortune teller earlier today, and it was a horrific visit. She showed me my future. I never really believed in this kind of stuff, but being shown what happens to me in the next few months is taking a lot out of me, but you need to know one thing. I can't change it. My future is set in stone. It is my ultimate fate."

After reading the first part of the note, Cambridge quirked an eyebrow, wondering why it ended shortly. However, there was an arrow at the very bottom of the page. He flipped the letter around while continuing his walk, seeing the rest of the writing on it.

"I know you're confused by this, but indeed, I saw how I was going to die, and what was going to cause it. I didn't know an exact date for when it was going to happen, but even if I did know, I know I'd be unable to change it without ruining you and your mom's future. Hopefully, the tapes will explain better."

Cambridge felt emotionally shaken. He crushed the letter in his hand, having long since arrived to the storage unit E-1 with tears welling in his eyes.

"Wha… what kind of idiot thinks that dying makes your families future better?" Cambridge asked. Frustrated, he punched the metal shutter with a loud rattling clang, tears falling down his cheeks. He could not process it correctly. He stuffed the letter away into his pocket before pulling the key out and putting it into the padlock. One click, and it unlocked and clattered to the floor. He grabbed the shutter and opened it, though it took a lot of his strength. There was a lot of junk in this storage unit. Cambridge turned the lights on, not even sure where to begin searching. He had no idea what his father meant by tapes explaining things better.

Cambridge found an old television set up off to the side with a small box in front of it to act as a chair, and there was a VHS player on top of it. Beside it was a small footlocker. The blue inkling opened the door, seeing a few tapes stocked within it, each one having a label on it. He had no clue how many were in here, but the most important one had a bright orange label.

"Love…" Cambridge read out the label, and he took out the tape. He never had operated a VHS player before. They were long heavily outdated in Inkopolis, along with the basic color televisions. Everything was DVD and HD now. However, Cambridge had a vague idea on how it worked. He slid the tape into the VHS player and then turned one of the two knobs on the side of the television, turning it on. He took a seat, his eyes focusing on the screen.

"Is this thing on?" he heard a voice. He couldn't exactly put to a face, but it was familiar. He saw the very static recording begin to focus better as it cleared up. He saw his father, who was sitting on a log by a bonfire, looking to be in the woods alone, a tent in the background.

"I'll just wing it… hey there, Cambridge. If you're watching this… well, that means I'm dead. The only reason I say that is because I got no clue how your mom will handle telling you what happened to me. I presumed she'd say I moved to Seashell Shore," Sheen spoke. Cambridge was glad his mother didn't lie to him about what happened to his father. In fact, she retold that story like it was a war experience.

"And I hope that David's able to keep this storage unit safe. Really, I paid millions of coins in advance to make sure this place doesn't go anywhere for a long time, but if David didn't drop the ball on anything, you should've read the letter by now, son," Sheen continued, stopping for a moment and rubbing his head. This was a difficult topic for him to handle.

"That fortune teller showed me that future, and it didn't change me one bit. I knew that if I did change it, I'd be ruining you and your mother's futures as well. I know I sound stupid. I know I let us go into danger. I knew what was going to happen, and I could have prevented keeping our family unharmed… but I asked that fortune teller to show me your future. You weren't even that old, and what I saw… haha… wow, I wish I could tell you, but she swore me to secrecy. Sorry, I can't tell someone else of their own future," the orange tentacled inkling continued. Cambridge watched intently, again with tears in his eyes.

"I can tell you one thing. I'm really proud of you, son. But please understand, I gave up my life to make sure yours and your mothers went down the happiest path available. Even though there is a lot of pain down it, you gotta remember that you're not alone. You've got more family than you'd think," Sheen stated. Cambridge assumed he was referring to Kreon and Alizarin. The blue inkling could not deny that he never anticipated having them as his family members, but he so far had no regrets to it and was glad his mother had done it, even if it was against her best judgment.

"Hey honey, what are you doing?" Zaffre's voice spoke up in the background of his father's recording. The camping tent opened, revealing a younger blue squid's mother, who was wondering what her close one was doing. From what Cambridge then learned, it was all recorded during a camping trip.

"Nothing, love, I'll be back in there in a minute," Sheen replied. She nodded and went back into the tent, He turned his attention back to the camcorder recording him.

"But look, son. I love you a lot, and over the last week… well, I've made a lot of tapes that you can look to for advice that you'd need from me… that you can't get from your mom anyway. I hope you're older than fourteen when you find these tapes… seriously, please be older than that, or else your mom will not be happy with me. Good bye… I love you, and remember. Your future is going to be better than you'd expect," Sheen said. The video tape ended, going to a static screen. Cambridge kept staring at the floor. He never got to know his father well, but knowing all of this was so upsetting to him. Imagining why his father would ever think letting himself die would be better for his family's future filled him with sorrow.

"I'm sorry… I'm a failure. I wasn't worth dying for."


	19. Date

"I swear, you're too paranoid," Kreon and her foster brother were at the main plaza. Alizarin had dragged her along because of Cambridge disappearing. It was two in the afternoon, and after he had left barely after breakfast, no one had seen him since. Worrisome to Alizarin, but the dragon squid did not pay it any mind. The blue squid had his right to privacy and if he wanted to ignore phone calls and texts. But to Alizarin, that was not how Cambridge was at all. He could sense something was wrong, though they had not informed their adoptive mother of anything until they were sure something was wrong.

"I didn't say I wasn't, now did I?" Alizarin replied, not denying it, but that mentality had served him well in turf wars. A nervous sixth sense helped with those trying to sneak up on him, though his paranoia had been increased a lot after he had been strangled into unconsciousness and framed for murder. He was in a bright pink shirt top that had a white checker pattern on it, and Kreon was in a blue vest with a white undershirt, the vest having a pattern of black flower petals on it.

"Look, we're just gonna ask Rackley, Callie and Marie if they have seen him. Worst case we leave with a no and they keep their eyes peeled," Alizarin reminded her of all they were here to do. His foster sister, sighed, giving up arguing. They were already at the main plaza, which was just as active as ever today.

"Fine, but you're buying me a donut from the café," Kreon said while they made their way up the side steps. Her brother didn't mind, as he was hungry anyway. At the side entrance of the studio, as they went to, there was a bodyguard standing there, looking invested on a crossword puzzle more than his actual job to stand there during the day and patrol occasionally in trade with another guard. It was probably a good sign that he wasn't leaving his post.

"Hey, can you let us in? We need to see our friends," Alizarin requested, the guard looking up from his crossword.

"Sorry, no entry to random squids unless they are accompanied by a worker of this studio or have ID," the guard apologized. Although his light tone of voice made him sound nice, they could tell he was ready to rough someone up if they threatened him. However, he looked stumped on one part of the puzzle, "Do you know a seven letter word for angry?"

"Oh… uh, blazing?" Kreon guessed, enjoying a good puzzle every now and then. She assumed by how fast he wrote that with a smile that the answer was correct.

"Thanks!"

"So can you let us in now?" Alizarin smiled, wondering if he would pretend to not notice them go inside the studio. The guard shook his head, not planning on moving an inch. The two inklings looked irritated, wishing they had put up that request before.

"Oh hey, Ali and Kreon!" they heard a familiar bright happy voice. The two turned around to see a disguised Callie who had come up behind them, carrying her roller on her back. She looked just as happy as the security guard did, but assumedly for another reason than puzzle solving.

"Hi, Callie! Have you seen Cambridge anywhere?" Alizarin requested.

"No… why?" she tilted her head concernedly.

"He went out this morning, and we can't get ahold of him since then," Kreon claimed. Callie shook her head, having not seen their brother since the other day when they all went to have some fun in turf wars as one happy group of friends.

"I haven't seen him all day… but I'll promise to look out for him," Callie insisted. The three began to head back down the steps toward the café due to Kreon's hunger.

"So where's your cousin?" Alizarin wondered. The Squid Sister looked embarrassed to speak out the information.

"She's… on a date. It's our day off," Callie explained. They were not much surprised, guessing it was a great time to spend a day off dating, and enjoying it instead of working for once.

"Cool…! Uhh… who with?" Alizarin quirked.

"…with Rackley," Callie muttered. She had trouble believing it herself. There was a short silence in the atmosphere between the three of them, Alizarin being hugely saddened since he had done his best to hit on the squid sisters. The only upside he had in his mind right now, is that he still had Callie to try and get that date with.

"Oh… well, uh… let's not bother them. Come on, let's try to find Cambridge," Alizarin quickly refocused the conversation, Kreon resisting the desire to make a quick joke at Agent 3's request. Callie thanked the red squid for not wanting to disturb her cousin and best friend's date for this.

"Do you know where he went last?" Callie questioned. They tried to recall Cambridge telling them anything that would give a good clue to his location. One name came to mind that he brought up before leaving the apartment.

"He mentioned some David person wanting to talk to him personally?" Kreon chimed up. She and Alizarin had no clue who David was.

"David…?" Callie smiled, recalling him by heart. She had met the man who ran Jellyfish Harbor when going to find the evidence to prove Alizarin innocent. She pulled out her cellphone and tapped the application known as Insta-taxi, a nifty trick to call the nearest taxi over to them. They got some small snacks from the café during their wait. Thankfully the café was empty today.

"I know where David is. We can go ask him," Callie claimed. Right on cue, the taxi pulled up for them. They were impressed by its sudden speed. The three of them climbed into the back.

"Jellyfish Harbor, please," Callie told the driver, and just like that, he drove off to take them there.

The traffic was busy in another nearby part of Inkopolis, but at a small restaurant, two familiar inklings were together. This restaurant had a pirate theme to it to the interior, but the tables and chairs outside that had umbrellas over them. The restaurant having a bright sign read 'The Great Barrrrrier Reef'. The owner had a pirate fascination, but the restaurant was popular, so it probably was paying off.

"It feels nice to see you out of your costume…kind of," Marie spoke, sitting under an umbrella with her date, Rackley, who was out of his TV show costume, and instead wearing a blue hat that had a battle tower logo on it, which was two arrows forming the shape of an X, and also a yellow shirt that had orange whiskers on it like a baby zapfish. Weirdly enough he was not entirely out of his costume, as he had the purple cape on his back and his squid ranger morpher on his wrist.

"Heh, thanks… I'm always amazed at how you look great, no matter the circumstances," Rackley complimented his date. He had bothered her at three in the morning during emergencies, and she even managed to look good when drowsy. Marie smiled, thankful for his kind words. She had taken the liberty to dress outside of her normal disguise, having put on a pair of black jeans and her favorite green t-shirt that had black diamond patterns on it. A black hat that had a happy squid decal on it rested on her head, so that way no one would recognize her tentacles.

"I can't believe the director made me take a day off," Agent 3 added, a little baffled at this. He had worked so hard, but too hard that the director had made him take the day off. They had enough footage of the sixth squid ranger that he could take two months off work while still being paid. All of those late nights and long days he put in were somewhat overstressing him.

"I'm glad he did, really," Marie claimed with a grin. She had a hand in this, having actively went and bothered the director to help her with this so she could enjoy her day off with him. Agent 3 found it odd when Agent 2 asked him out, but he was glad to be on a date with her. He had a tiny crush on her, but other than that he did not have much of a social life outside of work. His contact with Cambridge, Alizarin and Kreon had been the first group of people he met who weren't in a turf war and actively wanted to be his friend, though he had no complaints, and was more than glad to be friends with them. He felt connected to especially Cambridge, though he had no idea why.

"Here's your orders," the waiter said, carrying their food. He rested a bowl of salad in front of Rackley, and a plate of spaghetti for Marie, both dishes full of deliciousness. As Agent 3 began to eat though, he could tell there was something his date wanted to talk about. He saw that look on her face. Usually Agent 2 had a brighter smile than that.

"Rackley… you're still not blaming yourself for what happened to your grandma, do you?" Marie requested. That short time when he had vanished for a month after his caretaker's passing had made it bluntly obvious he blamed himself for this. He swallowed his food and sighed, having expected this to be brought up.

"I am… I think she'd still be alive if I hadn't left to go play some turf wars," Rackley repeated that same thought that was always burdening his mind, despite his and his best friends' strongest efforts to keep those thoughts in the back of his mind.

"Rackley, you knew she was not going to have much longer to live. You took her to three different specialists and got the same diagnosis, that if she ever had a heart attack, it'll be the end," Marie reminded him. The squid ranger had done his best for his grandmother, though it was out of desperation to keep some grasp of hope for his only family he had left back then. His real mother was wrapped in mystery, and being abandoned by his father worsened the wound to his emotional stability, even if he did not know him or anything about him.

"Marie… I like you a lot. But I know what you're gonna say next," he said, because he had received this very offer a few times before, but the last time was nearly a year ago.

"Again, if you want to find your real mom, the surrogate, we can give you the money…" Marie restated the offer, seeing that sad look on her date's face. He wondered if this was the whole reason she brought him out on a date in the first place. If it was, he understood, but he just wished she had directly talked to him up front about it.

"…fine, I'll do it. I really don't want to, though… so can you do me a favor?" Rackley agreed. A smile formed on the white Squid Sister's face

"Sure! What?" she asked. He reached over and put his hand on hers, like he was requesting some form of strength.

"Will you uh… be my girlfriend?" he requested. Silence fell for a moment, which filled him with dread, but then Marie laughed, and then nodded. She gladly accepted this.

"Gladly… come on, eat fast. I know just the detective to talk to."


	20. Surrogate?

**Authors Note: Hi all! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I worked nearly all night to get it ready... Though that was more of a my day getting cluttered. Either way, hope you like it let me know what you think.**

"I don't know what to do…" Cambridge sighed. He wandered randomly throughout Inkopolis, with no clue where he was, nor care to the things around him. Ever since he had watched that video and several others his father had left behind, he kept staring downward at the necklace with the same intact three teeth and a scale. He used to see it as a memento of hope, but now he saw it as just some reminder that his father had willingly allowed to sacrifice himself to save his son and wives lives, fearing that staying alive would ruin them. Somehow, the more he thought about it the more upset he became. And he had spent so much time, watching random tapes to find nothing. During his mindless walk, someone had stopped in front of him, gaining his attention. He could guess who it was by the familiar trench coat and the one black tentacle.

"Hey, squiddie," Detective Granite greeted the blue squid, finding it a coincidence that they met like this, considering their past neither had anticipated meeting again anytime soon. He patted the teenage squid's head.

"Oh… uh… hi, detective," Cambridge half-heartedly greeted. The detective did not like the sound of that tone of voice, or the look on the blue inklings face. His eyes were red and puffy, looking like he had been crying for a long time. The older inkling had seen that look enough when looking in the mirror when he was younger. To see a kid squid of any age upset like this tugged at his heart strings.

"What's the matter squiddo? I figured you would be happy since you saved your friends," Granite reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out a plastic water bottle that was filled with milk, offering it to him. The detective always carried several bottles of the liquid on him at all times. His trench coat had a special cooling feature for drinks which ran him up a lot of coins, but was worth it, and though his salary had been slashed from several failed cases, it still was good pay. Cambridge took the milk bottle, unscrewing the cap off and beginning to drink. After he drank nearly half the bottle, he sighed, putting the cap back on and putting it in his pocket.

"I am… my family feels more like a family than it ever has in a long time. But I miss my dad. He's been on my mind all day…" Cambridge sniffled. He was unwilling to go into detail about what brought up the reason why he missed his father, not wanting to be interrogated too heavily over it.

"Oh, right… your mother talked to me about him… listen, would you like a ride downtown? I'm on my way to visit a client of mine who needs my off duty services," Detective Granite offered to take him somewhere. If it was en route to his job, or at least near said route, he hated seeing young squids upset so much so he would even pull over his vehicle to check up on some of them. He hated how depressing his job could get, so in trade, he would do his best to make sure others were happy.

"Alright, I guess… what do you mean by off duty services though?" Cambridge followed the detective to his vehicle that was parked nearby the police station. The car was a black Cadillac with a silver hood ornament which appeared to be a globe with wings. There was also a silver trim to the Cadillac, the leather interior seeming to contest to its expensiveness.

"Well, to make ends meet, I also have a private detective gig," Granite stated while getting into the driver's seat and starting the car, Cambridge taking a seat in the passenger side and putting his seatbelt on. The car slowly backed out of the parking area before beginning to drive down the road, merging easily with other traffic. The drive was going to take a short time, but there was an atmosphere of silence. There was not much that the teenage passenger could say in reply to the second job.

"I'm sorry about your dad. I lost mine when I was young, too… that's how I knew Kreon's mom. I got put in her adoption agency. Her mother's name was Valory. Unfortunately, I had the biggest tentacles out of all the other squirts there, so she decided that she wanted to try and eat one. She tricked me into the basement, tied me up and cleanly cut my tentacle off. Thankfully, she was only hungry for one that day…" Detective Granite continued explaining his history, pointing to the stub that was left behind in place of one of his tentacles.

"Really? Why didn't you do anything?" Cambridge questioned, though more confused by it than anything else. Granite sighed while reaching into his coat and pulling out another bottle of milk, twisting the cap off with his teeth and spitting it aside, beginning to drink it up. The drink seemed to help with his stress.

"I tried to, but the problem was since I watched my dad die in front of my eyes, she could easily label me a mentally unstable squirt… and… well, no one believed me, they thought I cut it off myself. The only thing I could do was just escape, and I did. When Valory went to one of the rooms and left the entrance unlocked one night, I took my belt and wrapped it around the door handles, and legged it as far as I could. I think it was a day or three afterward when I hopped on a train and became a member of Inkopolis," Granite said. It was weird how happy he sounded to recall his escape and his journey to Inkopolis, but it was a defining moment in his life. The detective had one last thing to add to it.

"I became a detective because of Valory. I never forgot her, and got her arrested a long time down the road on one of my early cases. But I was never mad… dad always told me that everyone is an artist that starts life with just a white crayon. We can't make that crayon's color different, but we can make what it touches different," Granite stated. Cambridge could mentally see his father saying that a white crayon couldn't draw on white paper, but another color of paper could let it be just as bright and vibrant as the rest. The car took a left turn, the sun shining bright on the beautiful day.

"Your dad sounded great," Cambridge briefly complimented as the vehicle began to come to a stop in a parking lot not too far away from the main plaza. The both of them got out of the car.

"Thanks… oh, there're my clients," Granite replied. Cambridge was surprised to see Marie and Rackley sitting on a nearby bench, having been waiting for the detective with a private investigation side job to show up to the location they requested.

"Marie? Rackley?" Cambridge spoke confusedly, wondering what his friends needed with Detective Granite, or at least his private investigation side services.

"Cambridge! Hey!" Marie happily greeted their friend, a lot brighter at the moment then usual, though the opposite could be said for her boyfriend who looked not so excited about how he had been wrangled into this.

"What're you guys doing?" Cambridge wondered what they wanted with the detective.

"We wanted to hire him to help find my birthmother," Rackley held up the coin card with the money on it, the one that Marie had forced him to take. Granite took it with a smile, clapping his hands briefly.

"Great! That's not too hard. I got a friend who works organizing medical files at the hospital. We just gotta call him up, give him your name as well as information, and he'll have it all figured out in less than a few minutes," Granite declared, pulling out his flip phone, which was outdated, but he knew it always got the job done.

"It's really that easy?" Rackley asked, a little flabbergasted at this, imagining if he had not been so stubborn, he would have found his birth mother ages ago.

"Well, technology has advanced a lot since you were born," the detective reassured he had nothing to be upset or regretful about. His judgment was sound after all. He had his reasons. The three friends decided to just talk while they let the detective make his phone call.

"Are you okay, Cambridge? You look horrible," Marie asked concernedly, seeing his eyes that weren't much better than earlier. The squid ranger agreed with his new girlfriend about how the blue squid appeared, which was a deeply disturbing thought. They did not bother to inquire why he was riding with the detective though, as they assumed he had just gotten a ride.

"I'm not doing too good. I've just been going through a rough spot," Cambridge confessed, though the group could tell they were getting some odd looks from the detective. The person on the phone had given him some interesting news clearly.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Rackley said. Their friend knew if he ever needed anything, he could just ask them. Cambridge usually wasn't the type to keep things bottled up for too long. The detective hung up his phone and approached the group.

"Good news. Your real mom works nearby. I can take you there, but I gotta ask… do you really want to know?" the mono-tentacled detective asked. For some reason, this was a huge personal matter that was bigger than he believed.

"Yeah. I have to do this. Please take us to her," Rackley nodded. If he backed out now, not only would he be bothered by guilt, but he would be burdened with the constant curiosity where he would be sleep deprived. Cambridge admitted that he was curious to know who Agent 3's birth mother was. He could help Marie be there in case he needed morale support if something went awry.

"You got some good friends," Detective Granite smiled as he got into the driver's seat.

"Hop in!"

After a short ride, the group of four ended up in a very familiar part of Inkopolis. Rackley was far from comfortable to help keep his mind off the nervous tension. Marie was talking about their new relationship to Cambridge, who was initially surprised. They were two famous stars, and once news media got wind of it, there no doubt would be a lot of buzz about it, but Cambridge thought that Rackley was a good match with the Squid Sister, but Rackley was somewhat immature for lack of a better word. He loved being in costume for a reason, and today still wore the cape and morpher, with no plans to take them off when he met his birth mother. He was so dedicated to the role that he was partially in another world.

"Well, I'm glad you two are together. You look cutely intimidating, really…" Cambridge worded the only compliment in mind. Marie chuckled, aware he was not too far off. A pop idol together with a squishie and squirt television star was an odd pair, but they had a bond together. Fighting a war together against the octarians had a hand in that. Cambridge did not want to be on their bad sides, assuming two of the small group that beat an army were amazingly tough , or at least were able to plan revenge quickly or punish him in a fast manner.

"Alright, we're here," Granite claimed, the Cadillac coming to a complete halt. They got out of their car, and stood outside of the building that belonged to the turf officials, where various squids came and gone to be interrogated, or leaving after being interrogated.

"She works here?" Rackley tilted his head.

"Yeah. They told me she handled dealing with rough targets," Granite stated, Marie looking to their blue friend, aware that Agent 3 was getting more nervous as they approached.

"Maybe mom can help find her," Cambridge suggested as they walked to the front door. There were some suited turf officials there acting as security. However, upon being shown a detective badge, they allowed them all inside though. There still was a heavy atmosphere of hatred and despise being aimed for Granite, and he knew that, judging by how he felt when passing by each pair of eyes focused on him. Some believed him that his work as a detective hindered turf war legal issues.

"I don't see her anywhere," Granite murmured. Marie grew irritated with anticipation, but Rackley didn't. He could feel his heart racing. He had no idea what to expect or how to react. His emotions could not decide, and his heart was stuck in his throat. All the squid ranger could do is hope that his mother was someone kind. They were his only living family left as far as he was concerned. He had no clue where his dad went, or if he ever had a mom to begin with. His memory was too vague, but his grandma had told him a lot of things that made just as little sense.

"Gangway, we got cheaters here," a familiar voice spoke. Zaffre entered, carrying two inklings, one under each arm. They were a pair of pink tentacle haired twins looking angered to have been caught.

"Ah, good work. What were they doing?" a co-worker asked. Zaffre was happy to recount what happened.

"They were trying to use sticky ink to impede their enemies in turf wars," Zaffre explained. Sticky ink was a thicker ink that was not threatening or too much different, but it could slow someone down under their tracks like deep mud in a bog.

"Hi mom!" Cambridge happily approached his mother. She seemed surprised to see him at her work, presuming that a co-worker allowed him in. She let someone else take away the trouble making twins, before she rubbed her son's head.

"Hey, honey. What brings you over?" she asked, looking up slightly to see Marie, Granite and Rackley. The detective was telling them something, and in a brief moment, they could all see tears welling in Agent 3's eyes. Rackley ran up and tackled Zaffre, hugging her waist tightly and sobbing into her suit. Cambridge could tell his mother was shocked and surprised.

"Mommy! I missed you!" Rackley cried. Zaffre felt everything slow down in that moment as her heart skipped a beat. Cambridge and Marie were looking to each other for some form of clue on this matter. They pondered if the detective had gotten the wrong information. Rackley felt mentally scattered into a million places.

"Detective… Cambridge, Marie?" the turf official put a hand on Rackley's head, rubbing the back of it in some form of condolence, but allowed him to continue crying. Her co-worker's had no care at the dramatic scene being displayed in the room, even if they had context. They were just there to focus on their jobs, objectively out to keep turf wars as fair as possible. Detective Granite had a bright smile, feeling like he had just accomplished a very thorough job in less than an hour.

"Mom, what's going on?" Cambridge tilted his head confusedly. As if his father's tapes had not upset and confuse him enough, now his mother was acting so weird. It was just piling onto the utter madness that he was unsure if he was stuck in just a dream. She had no idea on how to respond, but she looked ready to murder the detective.

"Come on. I'll tell you guys in the cafeteria. It's about time for my lunch break anyway…" Zaffre sighed, looking to be caught in something being dredged up from her past. She took Rackley's hand in hers, letting him hold her hand as tightly as he wanted. She headed for the stairwell with a very confused Cambridge and Marie. Granite also was in tow, mostly because he was interested in this and could safely assume that the turf official would want a word with him.

The cafeteria was almost empty at the moment beyond a small number of workers scattered around, but most of these squids were not exactly turf officials, but the ones who managed accounting and processing the charges of accusations, after one of the leaders of the turf officials made their decisions on what to do with each individual guilty or innocent verdicts. Rackley was drinking milk that Granite had given him to try and comfort him. Marie felt bad to see her boyfriend in this position that she guessed was brought on by all those years, of hiding his feelings before and after his grandmother died had caught up with him like a vengeful wolf striking his heart.

"So when Navajo said two sons, he really meant two sons?" Cambridge spoke, recalling that time when his mother's boss had spoken about two children before, but the young inkling had assumed that was just an old man without his glasses or monocle in his case.

"Yes, Cambridge, honey… Meet your older brother, Rackley," Zaffre formally introduced them with the full title. Still no response from the cape wearing Agent 3 who was gathering himself. Marie tried to be as supportive as possible at the moment.

"Wow… I have another brother," Cambridge was surprised. He wished he could say that compared to his recently grown family, Rackley was quite odd, but unfortunately the blue inkling knew that his adoptive siblings, his mother and himself all had strange quirks of their own.

"You become a surrogate. Why didn't you just come out and tell it all?" Marie requested an answer to that. The mother to the two blue squids motioned her head subtly to the still upset squid ranger.

"I've kept an eye on him as often as I could, but his dad blackmailed me into never getting involved in his life unless I had to. I thought I'd mess his life up for the worse. I mean, look at him… he's a successful well-known star, and he needed to have others there to help make him stronger emotionally," Zaffre began. She then pointed a hand to Cambridge.

"But Cambridge appears to have a magnet attached to him to meet the strangest of people, just like his father, so I guess it was bound to happen," she joked, gaining a small laugh from the detective and Marie. Cambridge could not deny that much was true. Kreon was the weirdest of all in his eyes, and his half-brother was very weird in his own regard.

"A friend of mine wanted to have a squishie really badly. After three months of trying, she realized she could not carry an egg, to top it off her husband was not up to the task of impregnating her to begin with. She got worse by the day, so me and Sheen decided to help them out. That was how I became the surrogate," Zaffre exclaimed. The detective tilted his head back, surprised that Zaffre and her deceased husband had created another egg before they made Cambridge, they must have been really great friends with this other pair to create a child for them. Cambridge wondered if his father mentioned that at all on one of the many tapes, but not that he found so far. Though at this point the fact that Rackley had been lied to about being born from a surrogate, was broken.

"Is this the same friend that made you sign up to be a registered foster parent in trade for doing the same for you?" Granite questioned.

"Yes…" the blue mother nodded. She was not mad about it though. If it wasn't for her old friend, she would not have been able to adopt Alizarin or Kreon and save them from being forced to leave Inkopolis, even if they got on her nerves at times she was growing bonds with her adopted squids.

"Her name was Berro, but I don't know what happened to her. She just left one day and never came back to her husband. Charlie was a mess for years after that, and I did my best to support him. Sheen did too, but he vanished later as well," Zaffre sighed at the mention of her deceased husband. Today had ripped a lot of poor memories out from the past, she wished she could have done a lot more than she had.

"Police didn't investigate?" Granite chirped, finding it odd that the police would do nothing.

"They did, but there was no evidence of violence or anything… Everything pointed to some squids who wanted to abandon their lives and start a new one," she replied. Cambridge watched as Marie hugged Rackley, but was unable to get his attention. The embrace broke as the two blue inklings' mother pulled them close.

"Let me tell you one thing though, Granite. I love all four of my kids, I'm not just his surrogate, sweet shell I'm his real mother!" Zaffre proudly announced. Rackley sniffled, hugging his birth mother. Cambridge was glad things were looking up for Agent 3. He had solved a cruel puzzle from his past, but there still were two left to be remained answered, but he was not going to tackle them until he felt better, and that was if he wanted to.

"I-I love you to-too…Mom..." Rackley told his mother. Zaffre swore she got too much love lately, but so far she was happier than ever thanks to it. Cambridge smiled at the scene, Marie glad to see the surrogate mother, was just his real birth mother whom was someone she knew as strong, kind and gentle. However, unbeknownst to them, they were watched from afar, one of the many accountants videotaping them. The group decided to leave the cafeteria, they had to inform the rest of the others oblivious to the fact they had been searching for them all day.

"Begin activation."


	21. Earthquakes

Five days had passed. A long time for Rackley to take in the discovery of his birth mother. His new girlfriend stayed supportive of the matters, and Zaffre being glad to let him know the truth really helped his emotional stability. Today, the blue squid was on another set, dressed in his squid ranger uniform. Two similar looking costumed actors stood, one being yellow and one being red. The set around them depicted an ancient ruin.

"Get out of our way, Black! We have to get that artifact!" the red squid ranger called out, pulling out a slim, fancy looking weapon, aiming it at the black squid ranger and firing a red burst of ink. The black prism squid ranger chuckled, hitting a button on his gauntlet and creating a dark bubble shield around him that blocked the ink.

"Sorry, you two, but I have my own needs for this item," he laughed, turning around the bubble shield granting himself immunity to any attack. He reached over to the pedestal, grabbing the glowing ball that had been resting on it. The artifact played as a plot point in the show that the main heroes need to stop a trio of monsters that had repeatedly trounced them.

"Please! You promised you'd help us if we needed it!" Yellow begged, sounding convincing enough. She was set up to be the black ranger's love interest. Black pocketed the artifact before he spun around, covering himself with his cape. The colored cloth went completely flat upon being lifted up by the other two rangers. The black ranger had somehow vanished mysteriously.

"Promises are only worth keeping if they don't impede me from achieving my goal. We'll meet on the battlefield, whether as allies or enemies. However, that will be your decision," the black squid ranger's voice echoed with a light evil laugh.

"Alright, cut!" the director called out as the lights flicked back on the set and the cameras stopped rolling. Rackley groaned, changing back from his squid form. He had used it to hide behind the pedestal while the cameras were focused on his cape. The yellow and red rangers walked off immediately, glad to have finished the last scene for today. Rackley took his helmet off and stepped off the set, and he saw Marie and Callie standing nearby, having been watching away from the stage.

"You did great out there," Marie complimented. Like always, her boyfriend had done his role well. Rackley began undressing his costume, which he never did before he found out who his real mother was. The white squid was happy to see him changing at least, the black squid glad he was no longer spending all day and night recording scenes.

"Yeah! It's nice to see you taking off the costume, too," Callie had been worried quite often about how little he took it off, having thought he wore the costume in the shower to wash it, but that was hopefully just her overactive imagination.

"Thanks, you two," Rackley smiled, letting one of the wardrobe managers take the costume and helmet from him. He hugged his girlfriend in a warm welcome. The Squid Sisters were happy to see him mentally recovering a lot. He had even spent more time with Zaffre whenever she was around. He had one thought come to his mind though since at this time, they should be covering the latest Inkopolis news.

"What are you doing anyway? Aren't you going to be late for the news broadcast?" Rackley questioned. The two cousins pointed to behind them. By the door was an older man with a lot of medals on his shirt with a cane hunched over in a captain's hat. He was the grandfather to the two cousins, and the one who trained Agent 3 to fight the octarian army.

"Grandpa wanted to talk to you so we brought him here. Don't worry, I think the city will live with a teensy late broadcast," Callie stated, not minding the thought of them late, even if it was by a few hours or a few minutes. They had one devoted fan base that would forgive them for quite a lot. Thankfully the Squid Sisters weren't the type to take advantage of their dear fans and their hearts. They were more involved actively with their fans in turf wars then they knew.

"After that pair of earthquakes yesterday? I don't know I think Inkopolis needs to see you two beauties as often to help calm down," Rackley chuckled jokingly. He approached the captain and gave him a greeting salute, a force of habit he had gained whenever he met the elder squid, one of the last few living from the great turf wars ages ago. He had been holding up alright for his age. His granddaughters cared for him a lot.

"Hey, Captain Cuttlefish, what is it you need?" Agent 3 asked, Callie and Marie standing alongside him. Their grandfather had not informed them of anything recently, which was worrying to them. Whenever he wanted to discuss something with all three of the agents, usually it meant something big was occurring.

"Heheh… mornin', Rackley… first off, let me say congratulations on being reunited with your birth mother," Captain Cuttlefish congratulated him.

"Thank you, captain… but Marie was the one who convinced me to finally break out of my fear of who it might be," the prism squid ranger smiled, giving credit to his girlfriend who sheepishly smiled. She did feel bad for prying into his life when he was mentally and emotionally fragile enough, the very thing Callie was afraid of doing, but Marie hated watching someone suffer the constant torture of a puzzle in their mind, but knowing his birth mother was one puzzle solved, where his original caretakers had vanished to was another set of mysteries that he would focus on when the time came.

"You two look so cute together, yet somehow intimidating," Callie complimented them. They both gained a light laugh, hearing the same compliment Cambridge had said. The elder leader of the Squidbeak Splatoon coughed, gaining their attention.

"And secondly, Rackley, I'm glad you're dating my grandsquid. They both need to get out more often. Having cameras constantly on you isn't good for your eyes!" Captain Cuttlefish expressed his feelings. Rackley rubbed the back of his head, glad to be complimented by the captain. The two cousins looked annoyed to hear another lesson about protecting their vision being spoken.

"Well I'm just glad you're happy…"

"Yes… however, if you break her heart, Agent 3, you won't have to worry about your agent duties anymore, because you'll wake up in the deepest part of Octo Valley and have to climb out with your own two tentacles," Captain Cuttlefish threatened him. Rackley gulped in fear, Marie patting his back trying to get him to calm down.

"Grandpa! You know Rackley is a good squid," Callie defended her best friend's relationship with her cousin. The elder squid sighed in defeat, holding his head. He really was missing the days when they were just young squirts. How time flew so fast for him.

"Right, right, sorry… as for the reason I wanted to talk to you, it's about those two earthquakes that hit yesterday. I think something is going on with Octo Valley," Captain Cuttlefish said while stroking his beard. That sentence alone already had given Agent 3 a sense of dread. Somehow, someway, this old inkling had a certain fear from the earthquakes that struck the day before. Sometimes earthquakes would occur in Inkopolis, but two in such short timespans. One after another was an unbelievable coincidence.

"What about them, captain?" Rackley raised an eyebrow. The elder looked to his grandsquids.

"You two mind giving us a moment? This is a mission just for him," Captain Cuttlefish requested. The Squid Sisters looked confused. Normally they too were sent to tackle any mission, all three of them together, especially if it meant going to Octo Valley.

"Grandpa, we aren't letting him handle anything dangerous alone," Callie argued, only to see him tap his cane on the ground hard in slight irritation.

"Look here, squiddos, I love you both, but this might be a lot more dangerous than it seems. I got no clue what is going on, and hopefully he won't need help on this… but if there is a threat level of S, you know what the rules are," Captain Cuttlefish retorted. The Squid Sisters looked concerned at the danger level of this mission. S was the highest of them all. It was quite scary to imagine, but the protocol was that one agent would investigate and then determine if backup was required or not, and if so, call the other agents. They knew that no matter how hard they fought, Rackley would not change his mind on being that agent to investigate S-Level missions. The two cousins walked away to let them talk.

"So you know what's causing the earthquakes?" the squid ranger quirked. The elder nodded before pausing for a moment.

"Er… yes, and no. Y'see, squiddo when the octarians got freed of their mind control, one of them gave me the map with locations of several laboratories or facilities. Most of them were destroyed by lack of maintenance in the last year, but one of the weapon development facilities are still running the place they made those scary machines in," the elder war hero elaborated where the earthquakes were occurring, but the problem was that they had no idea what only one theory was left, and Agent 3 gulped at the memory of that.

"The giant ones powered by zapfish... that's impossible I got all the zapfish back," Rackley claimed muttering. He wondered if maybe the octolings had tried to make a new energy source when the zapfish began being taken. Whatever it was, if this was a giant robotic war machine creating havoc underground, just enough to cause earthquakes, it had to be stopped fast. Who knew how much damage it was causing as they spoke.

"There are a million possibilities to what it can be, but I want you to go see what it is, then identify its weak point. If and once you do, call Callie and Marie for backup and destroy it, while you're gone I'll be trying to dig up any information on these pinchlings that I can." Captain Cuttlefish explained the plan thoroughly. Agent 3 saluted, but before he could take a step away, he heard the elder speak up.

"Again, Rackley remember… keep that eel away from my grandsquid's clam. Got it?" he warned. Agent 3 gained a mad blush across his face. He nodded rapidly before beginning to head for the door. He could mentally hear the elder laughing at his expense. He then noticed Marie coming to him before he could leave the studio.

"You sure you don't want us to break protocol for you?" Marie questioned.

"I'll be fine, Marie. I've handled worse than an earthquake causing machine… I think," Rackley groaned, holding his head. He had hoped the giant war machines before would have been all he ever had to deal with.

"Well…if you say so but please be careful," Marie pleaded. Rackley smiled, and the two exchanged a quick kiss, though he could sense the captain's burning gaze intensely focused on him. Once they broke apart, the blue squid was about to leave before he heard her whisper to his ear, "Please take somebody with you. Even if it can't be one of us, I'd feel a lot better knowing you weren't alone."

"Don't worry, Marie. I'll be fine," Rackley nodded, giving her a thumbs up. He the ran out the door, not wanting to get teased or threatened by Captain Cuttlefish anymore. His girlfriend had a point; he would feel a lot safer himself if he had help with him, and he knew just the squids to go to.

"I hope mom and Cambridge aren't busy…"


	22. Family aid

**Authors Note: Hi all! Once again, this is an update the day after a chapter was already posted. Why? Because I felt bad that the last chapter was more like filler. Either way, Please Review! And I hope you enjoy, and remember I need criticism to improve any issues you find, let me know and I'll do my best to fix or capitalize on them.**

Zaffre relaxed, seated in the kitchen of her apartment with a cup in her hands which she had just drunk tea from. It was her day off this week, and she had gotten quite an ego polishing with a small bonus to her check. She had caught a team of cheaters that were normally great at covering their sabotages, but the blue squid had captured them in the act. This job was a lot more fulfilling to her than her last few ever had been.

"Uh… mother?" she heard, raising an eyebrow and looking over to see Kreon in an orange shirt with stripes on it. Kreon felt awkward for calling Zaffre mother, not used to referring to her as this yet. It was a surprise to the blue mother, too. She understood why Alizarin did it. She was his only mother figure before he was even adopted by her, but the dragon squid never had a reason to care about it.

"Did you just call me mom?" Zaffre grinned. Her adopted daughter sighed. Truthfully she had been given an offer by her brothers to try and be a lot nicer to their parent, and in trade they would help her get a brand new weapon, despite the fact that Kreon had spent time on and off training Cambridge to use the inkbrush a lot better, but she had been having a different thought in mind lately that maybe it was time to learn a new weapon.

"Yes… uh… if you want, I can refrain from it?" Kreon offered. Her foster mother shook her head.

"Nope. Say whatever you feel comfortable saying," Zaffre reassured, getting up from her seat and going to the sink to put her cup into the sink with the other few dirty dishes.

"Mom, I was wondering if you'd give me the coins to get a new weapon," Kreon hesitantly spoke. Zaffre quirked an eyebrow, thinking over that for a moment. Weapons were expensive, a lot more than clothes. All of her children were pretty fresh, at least in a fashion sense. The dragon inkling wanted to learn new weapons since she was frankly starting to learn that fighting close and personal was for barbarian cephalopods. She would gladly continue to teach Cambridge how to use his inkbrush, but she wanted to change it up.

"Come with me. I think I got the perfect weapon for you," Zaffre hummed. Kreon felt nervous, feeling the blue inkling grab her hand and lead her along. Her adoptive mother sounded like she had a trove of weapons. Then again, every inkling that remotely participated in turf wars did. It was weirder to not find tons of ink expelling devices. They walked past the living room where Cambridge and Alizarin were playing a video game together, not noticing the two heading into the hallway and going to her room, which still housed many small pieces of exercise equipment. Zaffre began digging through her closet, looking for something that was buried in the back of it.

"I know you've not had it easy. I imagine being a runaway, and your mom's issues probably affected your perspective of life and your personality," Zaffre tried to put it lightly, not wanting to talk about the cannibalistic Vallory Blodskam. Most of the cities had the same law about cannibals. When given the guilty verdict, they were to lose their three sharp teeth, leaving only the weaker human like teeth behind to prevent them from causing any more trouble. It was cruel, as even the very law enforcers admitted, but there was no other real punishment that could be done without running the risk of inmates trying to consume their other inmates.

"It's alright. I'm happier being a Verlegen," Kreon admitted. She never imagined that those two boys she met that had saved her from being hit from a car would be her siblings. The dragon squid still wondered who had cut her ink tank during that turf war. She assumed it was a teammate or a third party playing a very cruel prank by causing trouble. All the green squid knew was that she vowed to viciously murder whoever stripped her of her S+ rank and ruined her reputation, one puzzle that was going to drive her insane. Still, the chargers were not provable, so the worst she lost was her rank and her traitorous comrades.

"Heh, I'm glad you are… y'know before you and Alizarin joined our family, I had trouble getting up every morning for the last ten years. I've had to tell myself I gotta get up for Cambridge…" the mother sighed while tossing aside a big box that rattled viciously upon hitting the ground. Kreon peeked into the box to see random toys, which she presumed was from when Cambridge was a tiny squishie.

"But now?" Kreon chirped, wondering if her mother needed help getting whatever it was she was looking for out from the closet.

"But now I don't have to tell myself anything. I haven't been so happy to wake up each morning in a long time. I've got you all to look out for, even Rackley. I didn't think I'd ever get used to this, but… I can't see my life being the same without any of you now," Zaffre looked emotional over the deal. Kreon smiled, surprised by how attached her foster mother had become. She never really had gotten true affection from her mother, and was terrified that she would instead see ambition to chop her tentacles off for food, until she ran away that is. The blue squid smiled, finding an old photo.

"Heheh… here's me and Sheen at our wedding," Zaffre presented a framed photo that she had stuffed away, due to the joyous memories acting like emotional strains in her heart and mind. It depicted them both dressed in casual clothes like it was an average day.

"Why are you dressed like this?" Kreon looked over the photo, "Aren't you supposed to be in fancy clothing?"

"Well, me and Sheen knew it'd be expensive to get a wedding dress and a tuxedo, so we had an idea to come up with the casual wedding! ...yeah… we were real cheap with our coins, but it actually kind of became a trend," Zaffre confessed. She and her former husband were always like that with financial decisions, but the casual wedding where no one was required to dress fancy unless they wanted to became more of a brief trend for young squids wanting to become newlyweds while trying to save coins.

"A-hah! Found it!" Zaffre laughed, pulling out an odd tiny box that had a lot of aged tape wrapped all around it. Whatever was in there was something that at one point or another was meant to be locked away and hidden. Kreon came over, assuming it was another painful memento. The dragon squid felt one of her tentacles get grabbed by Zaffre, and its quills used to cut the tape off fast.

"H-hey! I am not a box cutter," the dragon inkling huffed, putting on a pouty face before being handed the box.

"This was one of the most crisp side weapons back when they were permitted. I'm sure that it'll do you good though," Zaffre stated. When she was younger, turf wars permitted secondary weapons to use when their primary ammunition of ink was dry, but the turf officials ruled them unfair and limited it to primary weapons only. Kreon pulled the lid off, tossing it aside and looking at the contents of the box, confused.

"Is…is this a…?" Kreon pulled out a slightly bigger slingshot made of a weird metallic material, with four elastic bands attached to the sling. To say this was an outdated weapon was the least of the words on her mind.

"A Salmon Slingshot! It was Sheen's favorite sidearm. It packs a punch and consumes nearly no ink," Zaffre explained. Kreon staring at the odd weapon in awe. It relied on her actual physical strength and speed to decide how fast she could fire, she began to think she really needed to exercise more.

"Erm… thanks," Kreon thanked her mother, thinking it was no weirder than her custom inkbrush. She quickly pocketed the salmon slingshot, going to give it a chance at least, not wanting to offend the blue squid after seeing how happy she was at the moment with their partial bonding.

"Mom!" Cambridge called out. Zaffre quirked an eyebrow, deciding to clean the mess she had made going through her closet later. She went with her adoptive daughter to the living room. Alizarin stood beside his brother, and now Rackley was here with his luna blaster on his side and an ink tank on his back, and without his costume at all. Beyond the morpher on his wrist.

"Oh hey, Rackley," Zaffre greeted him, her waist being hugged again like he always did when greeting her.

"Hi mom," Rackley hummed warmly, his head lay against her stomach. The blue squids' mother rubbed his head, glad she had helped create such kind life, even if he had suffered over the years.

"What are you doing here?" Alizarin asked. Normally the squid ranger would at least let them know that he was on his way, but today that thought had slipped his mind on his way over. Agent 3 broke the embrace with his mother.

"I need help," Rackley described, though everything fell silent when things started shaking around the apartment.

"Another earthquake?" Zaffre groaned, feeling everything shaking. It wasn't too bad, but this was the third time in two days that Inkopolis was being shaken by the ground. Cambridge and Alizarin wound up clinging onto Kreon for support, much to the dragon squid's irritation. After a few minutes, which felt a lot longer than it actually was, the earthquake halted. Thankfully, nothing was broken.

"I-I need your help with stopping that," Rackley immediately requested their aid, just like Marie had wanted him to do. Kreon threw her brothers off her.

"Stopping ea-earthquakes? Uhh, Rackley, did you hit your head?" Cambridge asked while getting up. That made little sense when spoken aloud. Agent 3 groaned, trying to think of the fastest way to explain things without going into long detail about his entire conversation with the captain.

"It's a problem under Inkopolis. Please, I need help stopping it. I'm afraid it might be too big for me…" Rackley explained, looking for help from the newly woven family. Zaffre rubbed her head.

"Alright, I'll help," she shrugged, going off to get her weapon. She had nothing better to do today, and she hated days off for being so boring at times.

"We'll he-help too," Cambridge exclaimed, trying to be as enthusiastic as Alizarin. He had been taught from him the method of being less timid, which so far was going poorly.

"C'mon, Cambridge, you gotta be louder than that," Alizarin stated, going down the hall to grab their weapons and ink tanks. Kreon sighed in irritation, but decided to agree to this.

"I don't mind helping, but being volunteered before I gave my thoughts is very irritating," Kreon stated, as if giving a warning to her brother to not do it again, if he didn't want to wake up in a random part of Inkopolis the next time he went to sleep. The dragon inkling wanted to test out her new weapon anyway. None of them knew what they were going to be up against. Rackley had a big grin, knowing he had gotten all four of them to agree to help. Cambridge had no hesitation, despite his fear to volunteer them. Alizarin and Zaffre were glad to help their family. Kreon was getting annoyed with the earthquakes anyway, and wanted them to just stop.

"I never thought I'd be going on a mission with my entire family… this should be fun!"


	23. Octo Valley

The Verlegen family had made their way to the Inkopolis main plaza, Rackley leading them all. Cambridge was absentmindedly thinking more about his father, staring down at the three teeth and the dragon squids scale on his necklace for some form of answers to the many questions in his head, or at least the one question he still never had wrapped his head around what his father meant by ruin their future. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Alizarin who chimed up.

"You hear me?" Alizarin spoke, his brother looking to him.

"Wha? Sorry, can you repeat that? I-I was up late…" Cambridge lied. His red brother presented to him a very tiny box. Cambridge opened it to see a pendant in it that looked to be made of very sturdy wood. There was a symbol of five hearts in front of it in a circular pattern, each one being a different color.

"Whoa… wh-where did you get this?" Cambridge asked in amazement. It looked beautiful to him. His adoptive sibling grinned widely.

"I made it myself! I wanted it to kind of symbolize our family," Alizarin claimed with that same happy expression. The blue squid humbly put the pendant on the other side of his necklace, opposite of the green scale. Now his necklace had his dad's three teeth, Kreon's scale, and now Alizarins charm, three mementos filling Cambridge with a good feeling, each one feeling great to have with him and on his chest, not far from his beating heart.

"I love it," Cambridge thanked his brother. Alizarin was glad he liked it, because it took hours of wood and effort to make. They entered the main plaza, Agent 3 leading all five of his family members to the large storm drain.

"Uh… what do we do now?" Kreon hesitantly asked.

"Follow me!" Rackley changed into his squid form and dived in between the bars. The rest of the family all looked to one another with a little concern and disbelief of this being the entrance to Octo Valley.

"Don't be afraid. Come on," Zaffre changed into her slightly bigger squid form, and she slipped in between the pipes and fell through it and down into the pitch darkness. Kreon was the next to go in, but in her squid form the quill's in her tentacles got stuck. Alizarin freed her with a push, hearing her let out a light cry while falling. Both he and Cambridge went in next in their squid forms, the young blue inkling a lot happier with his new trinket on his necklace, and filled with a lot more hope than he felt in a while. For all he knew though, fighting this earthquake causing beast was going to be a scary task.

After a long fall, all five of the family popped out at the bottom of the pipe one by one, landing beside each other. They all looked around the strange underground landscape, and spotted an old wooden board that had several documents on it, red lines connecting one part of the map or document to another. Only Agent 3 seemed to have the most idea of what this place was.

"Welcome to Octo Valley! I guess you could say this was kind of our war room," Rackley stated. There used to be a few small pieces of furniture here as well and the former villain that had mind controlled the octarians into nearly starting a second great turf war. Thankfully the Squidbeak Splatoon made sure that was not going to happen.

"Wow I didn't think Inkopolis was on top of such a… well such a place," Kreon admitted that she was astonished, Cambridge looking at an old map that was on the board of documents and red string. Octo Valley was quite big and appeared to house a lot of secrets. This map had possible locations that would lead to the octarians' homeland marked down, but no one had ever investigated, but the family was just here to find out what was shaking Inkopolis with violent tremors and nothing else.

"It should be north west," Cambridge stated after looking at the map.

"You've got that right," Rackley nodded, the group continuing onward. The family noticed that as they went, Octo Valley revealed various parts to it that almost made it look like a small town itself. There was a small skate park that had withstood the test of time so far, with some benches around and very odd looking old posters. Zaffre could tell after a brief moment that they were walking through a long left behind park, the small stone path the fences off to the side. This appeared to be all that was constructed of the park, where only grass and trees grew. Nature was fortunately able to thrive down here in some scenarios, a lot better than they would have above ground.

"Octo Valley sure is ominous…" Zaffre stated.

"I feel like it's haunted with ghosts and they're all watching us right now," Alizarin exclaimed the first chain of thoughts in his head to describe the chilling feeling. Cambridge swallowed, not wanting to imagine being haunted by octopi or squid ghosts from the great turf war.

"I don't know much about Octo Valley, but according to Captain Cuttlefish, it was one of the most used areas for the great turf war. Once that was over, apparently the octarians moved to somewhere underground and tried to change it into a town under Inkopolis… but Octo Valley isn't safe to build in, a lot of its crumpled apart," Rackley elaborated on this place. Even though it was built, he had no clue of whatever name it had, though no one knew where the octarians were. All Rackley and the Squid Sisters knew was that the octopi were living in peace once more.

"Destruction caused later by war when there was no war… how tragic," Kreon sounded bored, with little care for any of this. She just wanted to focus on the task at hand and not worry about squid and octopus cultures.

"Fighting the octarians taught me more about both races than I imagined I'd ever know. I think the biggest thing learnt, being that there are millions of different types of octopi and squid, but it's a one in a million chance for any of them to be created, because the only way for it to happen is when one gene in just anyone is a little messed up. Usually it means each one has a special ability that regular squids or octopi wouldn't," Rackley had accidentally stumbled upon that information during a mission where he was sent to gather intelligence on the enemy. Kreon quirked an eyebrow, feeling as if that information was only brought up because of her. She could feel her family's curious looks on her now.

"You don't have anything like that, do you?" Zaffre asked.

"Yeah! Can you breathe fire?!" Alizarin gasped, looking ready to beg to see it. Cambridge was just keeping quiet for some reason. Talking about genetics made him feel uncomfortable. He was more focused on the necklace and its three charms.

"No, I can't breathe fire! I-I still have my ink sack," Kreon answered. Nearly every squid in existence would lose their ink sack after they turned into a squirt. The dragon squid heard her red brother laugh a little at this.

"So you can spit ink?" Zaffre asked. Her daughter nodded, seeing it as her own secret weapon, though when Alizarin didn't stop laughing, their blue mother smacked him in the back of the head, which did good job of getting him quiet. Rackley held his arms out, halting them all once they reached cliffside area.

"Is this it?" Cambridge saw an opening to the side of the nearby stone wall, but it was covered by mostly rocks, leaving only a small way to get inside, the earthquakes having most likely shook them loose.

"Yeah. We need to be careful, because we don't know what's in there… and I don't just mean the earthquake maker," Rackley told them he had learnt a long time ago that the octarian army always made devices, more than just the huge war machines. The only positive thing Agent 3 could think of was that the things they invented tended to have very obvious weaknesses, but that probably was from the constant rush of development.

"We'll be fine, Rackley, don't you worry," Zaffre reassured, trying her best to keep their spirits up, though she could tell Cambridge was depressed. Otherwise they were all normal. The mother squid began to head downward first in case there was some sort of long forgotten trap. The four squids followed their mother shortly after. They reached the bottom near the entrance and tried to go inside, but then a tiny hole in the ground opened up, and out sprung a metal pole with a tiny red flashing light on top of it with a small microphone.

"Scan has been completed! Squids detected! Alerting General Ocayn!" a menacing pre-recorded message spoke from the microphone. Most of them felt scared, imagining a general octoling coming to attack.

"Oh, relax guys. General Ocayn isn't alive anymore," Rackley stated, going up to the thin metal pole and jumping up, grabbing the microphone and ripping it out, tossing it aside now. There was just the tolerable tiny red flashing light.

"Di-did you and the Squid Sisters kill him?" Cambridge nervously asked, his brother quirked an eyebrow. His brother was easily frightened, nothing unusual.

"No. He died about a month after we beat DJ Octavio and freed the octarians. Old age got him badly. I did go back to the area where I fought him last and paid my respects," Rackley explained. Old age had claimed another life. Agent 3 felt horrible whenever someone he used to know, friend or enemy, died, and he still was trying to cope with what happened to his grandmother.

"Well, let's not waste any time. I don't want another earthquake to happen. They make me feel sick," Alizarin claimed as they made their way inside.

"For once, I can agree with you," the scarred dragon squid nodded, feeling oddly intimidated the closer they got to the entrance.

"They're here…" from very far behind the family, a familiar red skinned girl with a scar on her face stood unnoticed, her green and blue eyes watching them intensely. She pulled out her cellphone.

"They took the bait, grandpa! I told you activating that old machine would work! Tell daddy to meet me here please!" Celesio sounded all too energetic to talk about her father. She was not alone, there were a few inklings with her, looking bored like they had been spying there all day.

"Calm down, Celesio… tell me how much backup you need?" Crion questioned, dodging the mention of her father like it was normal.

"All of it! All that you can spare! I want them all captured, especially the dragon jerk!" Celesio stomped, hearing her grandfather sigh.

"That'll be there immediately, Celesio," Crion hung up shortly after. The red pinchling pocketed her phone and turning to the three inklings with her.

"What?" one of them asked with his mouth full of food, having decided to take this time to eat lunch.

"Get ready! We're going to stalk them until backup arrives!"


	24. The GMM And GRD

**Authors Note: Another update the day after a chapter went up! As far as I'm aware anyway, scheduling makes me paranoid. Though before you read this, let me say that the icon I currently have of the inkling Lucas, does not belong to me but I have been given permission by DustyToonLink to use it. Check them out though, their style is adorable.**

The group had entered the last weapons development facility that had not been buried under rubble or destroyed when the octarian army disbanded with the lack of maintenance. These bases had been made in an odd way, where the octolings had mined out one area and then filled it with many supporting beams. It was the quickest way to set up a facility to them with little resources wasted. Instead, all their resources went to the giant robots that Agent 3 had smashed, but as result of these cost cutting methods, a lot of the facilities suffered cave-ins, collapsing supports, and destruction of valuable weapons or research. The group of five discovered several different doors around in a big hallway up ahead.

"Should we split up?" Cambridge had his custom inkbrush dangling off his side in its compact form, his ink tank full of blue ink. He was scared to do this, and there were an odd number of doors, so that meant someone would be unwillingly stuck alone in this weapons development facility if they wanted to investigate three directions, they had no plans to leave anyone alone. They had no clue what was left in it, especially if the earthquake causing monster was here.

"Alright. Me and mom will take the second left door," Rackley claimed. Zaffre had no protests, carrying a rapid blaster and was more than eager to put it to use.

"We'll head on the first door of the right then," Alizarin claimed he would go with his brother and sister to explore that side. Cambridge did not mind, but was just afraid of what might happen if an earthquake hit while they were inside the facility.

"Wha-what do we do if we find the thing causing the quakes?" Cambridge nervously asked, his blue brother presenting his cellphone technology that vowed to use again as useful aid.

"This is why I had you all download the radio app before we went into Octo Valley. Just set it to frequency 27 and call us," Rackley claimed the radio app would work, even if there was no phone reception. The app was designed to use the points on the phone and operate on radio frequencies, which could work in an underground area without the worry of connections being interrupted often.

"Alright. Let's go find this thing then," Kreon said, and the group split up, the three siblings heading down their designated door while Rackley went with his mother into another doorway. The mother was feeling her sixth sense bugging her, but she tried to not let it worry her, assuming that was just her motherly instincts worrying for her children being on their own in a dangerous environment.

"Alright… you two go after the old woman and the boy she went with, try to scare them. We'll go after the others," from the shadows, Celesio ordered once the coast was clear, out to get revenge on Kreon specifically, but capturing the others was just a bonus.

"But boss, what about the robot? Shouldn't we turn it off?" a dark skinned inkling asked, holding a tiny remote control that had a few knobs and levers on it, looking like outdated trash at best. The pinchling took it from him and pocketed it.

"No, you coward! This place is perfectly safe! Now get moving! If you really want it shut off, then capture them now, or else I'll tell daddy you turned your back on the Amabile family!" the red skinned girl threatened. The two ran off instantly to try to catch up to Zaffre and Rackley. Celesio smiled, glad to have that threat in her tools freely to keep her assistants in line. She began to walk ahead, the device in her pocket, ready to go after the dragon squid and her brothers.

"It must have been tough fighting an army with just the three of you," Zaffre tried to strike up a conversation. She and Rackley were already having issues on their path, and they had just hit a dead end, which was rubble blocking off their straight path. There were two other directions they could go, the two opting into heading left.

"I remember the worst part about it was the baby zapfish in danger. The poor things were always terrified whenever we saved one," Rackley claimed. He did his best to comfort any baby zapfish he rescued, though that had to do with zapfish care that Captain Cuttlefish had taught him, along with how to stitch a plush doll of a baby zapfish, but that was more because Agent 3 requested to be taught that. He wondered if he should make Marie one when he got back.

"Least you three got them all back," Zaffre sounded impressed. Her son sighed as they continued down the odd twists and turns.

"I thought we had, but whatever is causing these earthquakes might have one. I don't know what's going on, but I want to find the source of it and stop it," Rackley declared as they entered into one room that looked like a garage. There were still a lot of tools around, though the only vehicle prominent was the one in the center of the room on a raised platform.

"Wh-whoa… what is that?" Zaffre gasped, seeing a rainbow colored vehicle with outdated ink cannons attached to the sides and back. It astonishingly looked to be untouched since its completed construction. There were blueprints on the walls, most of which were destroyed by age, but one was mostly alright, as only a small part of it was missing.

"The octarian rainbow blaster deluxe… they were about to start using war vehicles?!" Rackley's jaw dropped. It was a horrific thought to imagine that if the three agents had not defeated the octoling army when they did, they would have had to face active war vehicles that could shoot a giant burst of ink from each cannon with a large pool of ammo. His mother stood under the suspended vehicle.

"Boy, octarians really are smart… they could make this in such a short time… heh, if only it wasn't a weapon. I'd like to have it as a car," Zaffre joked, having never bought a car in her life as she found it to just be another costly item that would drain her coins. She did not need that, no matter how much better her current job paid. Rackley smiled, seeing an instruction booklet that looked to describe how to operate the vehicle.

"I bet the captain would like to see this," Agent 3 took the booklet and put it in his pocket. When he turned around, however, his mother still was under the vehicle that was suspended in the air. The dark skinned squid that was working for Celesio stood, hitting a button that was keeping the suspension platform raised.

"Mom!" Rackley charged over as fast as he could. Zaffre looked confused before she heard the creak. That moment, everything seemed to freeze. She realized what was going on. Agent 3 ran with every bit of strength to try and get her out of the way. The war vehicle fell when the blue squid grabbed his mother's waist, but she wouldn't move. All he heard was her groaning. She had caught the suspension, holding the vehicle up, her teeth grit and her muscles straining to hold it up.

"What ar-are you doing? Get out from under this!" she ordered to her son. He was too stunned to move. She groaned when her son wouldn't budge.

"Sorry, honey!" She kicked Rackley back out from under the vehicle. She then let go and quickly jumped back. The war vehicle crashed into the ground, cracking it a little. Zaffre hunched over, panting, her arms throbbing in agony. Rackley was glad to see the both of them safe. They looked over at the now scared two squids that had just tried to get the surprise on them. They never expected the mother to be so strong, though now they were going to find out.

"You two!" Agent 3 stood up, pulled out his luna blaster and aimed it at them, and he fired three blue spheres of ink, watching the two now terrified squids dodge the fire. Each ink blast left blue ink on the walls. The two enemies ran off down another doorway, not caring about the closed garage door which perhaps led to another area. Rackley ran off after them.

"Rackley! Wait!" Zaffre panted, trying and keep up and follow him, but she had blown all her energy by stopping that car from crushing them under its massive weight.

"What is this place?" Cambridge asked himself. He and his trio had stumbled upon an odd lab full of empty tanks, and aside that a lot of growing plants, which looked to be none of the types they had ever seen before.

"Plants grown in the deepest parts of Octo Valley?" Kreon read the sign. Octo Valley still had many secret oddities in it, and the octarians at one point during their mind controlled days were out to discover as many as possible, and any that could be useful to them.

"I wouldn't touch them if I were you," Alizarin claimed. looking at the weird huge tanks that were empty. At one point, something in them was held. Cambridge looked around the corner of the lab to see another two that were broken open, the glass lying on the outside of the tank. Whatever broke out from them was a scary thought to him. He hoped this happened a long time ago and not recently.

"Be careful, guys. We may not be alone…" Cambridge stated, his siblings nodding. Just then, they began to feel shaking from all around.

"An-another earthquake!" the dragon squid gasped, grabbing onto the pipes on the walls. Alizarin had turned into his squid form and hid under the table that the various plants were on. Cambridge did his best to stay in place, but he stumbled backwards, hitting his arm against the computer on accident and turning it on. After a brief moment, the earthquake halted.

"Is…is it over?" Alizarin chirped, poking out from under the table in his inkling form again.

"Yes. It appears we got lucky that nothing collapsed," Kreon sighed in relief, not wanting her life cut drastically short by falling debris.

"Whoa…" a gasp came from Cambridge's lips. He had his eyes glued on the computer, which Kreon and her brother then noticed.

"Did you find something, bro?" the red squid questioned as the two approached beside him. The computer screen displayed two final things that the octolings had been working on in this lab. The three looked at the first document.

"I think we've done it! We've discovered the way to control genetics! We can create any form of octopus we want! We can even transform other octolings into other forms of octopi! Dj Octavio insists that we test it on Agent 3 when we capture him to see if we can change him into any form of squid, before we risk injuring any of our army. We stored the device away in another area of the base for safety reasons, it has been given the name the gene modification machine."

"Wow… hey, Kreon, wouldn't that be awesome if you could become even more like a dragon?" Alizarin asked, his adopted sister looking at him questionably.

"No. I'm perfectly happy being a dragon squid. Why?" Kreon questioned in reply.

"I'unno. I think you'd look cuter if you had a tail," he laughed before being tackled to the ground. Cambridge ignored his fighting siblings as he looked at the second document.

"We may have found a way to revive the dead, or at least recreate them. We haven't told DJ Octavio anything. It may be considered treason to keep anything from him. How it works is that we create an artificial egg with the machine. There is no difference between it and a regular egg made in a female, other than how it was created. If we have any DNA of the dead, we can impregnate that egg with their genetic coding. With no testing, we can't tell, but it should make an exact duplicate newborn of the dead that will grow with the exact same body and brain. We could revive the fallen from the great turf war with this, but I am afraid it would be tampering in a domain we are forbidden to go to. Because of this, it is locked away. Honestly, to even prove this does work exactly not only would we need a dead subject, we would have to monitor the newly hatched until they reach the age they died to see if their personality or body is any different. It has been named the genetic replication device. If the machine is found, they will read this note definitely. I cannot implore this enough, the recreated is not the same person reborn, it is creating a new life with their genetic coding, so they will grow up with exactly the same body and supposedly the same personality."

If it worked for them, it must work for squid's, not like they tested it on either to begin with. Only one thought plagued the blue squid's mind as he looked at the teeth of his necklace.

"I…I can recreate dad? He'll come back...as a squishie?"


	25. Determination

Cambridge led his two siblings through the development facility in quite a rushed pace. He had reassured them everything was fine and he wanted to find the source of the earthquakes immediately. But secretly he was motivated to get that recreation device that supposedly allowed the deceased to be reborn. He was going to do anything to take it, but willing to keep it secret from his family out of fear of how they would react.

"Um… guys?" Kreon spoke, coming to a halt, the other two stopping and turning around. She stared down the opposite way of the dimly lit hall they had come through. The lights in this entire facility were not too bright. They were still running through a hidden area that was shaded in darkness.

"What is it, Kreon?" Alizarin asked, concerned, wondering if she wanted to stop for a bathroom break, but he couldn't make a joke in time before receiving an angry glare from her and a swift smack from one of her tentacles.

"I…I thought I saw tentacles in the dark," she rubbed her arm nervously and began to wrap her tentacles around herself for comfort.

"Tentacles?" Cambridge raised an eyebrow, hearing the sound of snipping. The lights were beginning to go out one at a time, each light fixture clattering to the ground loudly, the lights only being held by thin wires from the ceiling. The blue squid realized what was about to happen with a sudden gasp.

"Watch out!" he ran in front of his brother and sister before he got shot by a blast of salt water on his chest. He gasped, feeling a shockwave of pain shoot all throughout his body as he fell onto his knees.

"Cambridge!" his two siblings went to help him when they heard laughing and they saw a very thin set of crab legs appear. A bright colored spider crab came out from the shadows, which transformed back to normal. Celesio had gotten the surprise on them, and she had a new weapon, a water cannon that could pack a punch to her enemies, her mop brush still on her back.

"My, you have good eyes," Celesio's laughed. A pink female inkling appeared beside her with a bored expression, this stressful environment having no effect on her. The pinchling had used her grab form to sneak up on them after cutting some lights, and her assistant was a good distraction as well.

"Celesio! Of course it'd be you!" Kreon growled, pulling her salmon slingshot off her side and aiming it for the red skinned girl. Their facial scars seemed to throb in pain as their intense gazes locked in sheer fury. They were ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Alizarin was doing his best to dry off Cambridge who currently lay on his side, gasping for breath and trying to take in the pain that had caught him by surprise.

"You have a new weapon, too?" Celesio grinned, looking at the dragon squid she considered rival until the day she beat her and captured her for external resources, as well as revenge. Primarily revenge.

"Yeah, and it's a lot better than yours!" Kreon angrily replied, though her confidence dwindled a little when she remembered that she had only the salmon slingshot. The weapon felt great in her hand with tight grip, and she was ready to fight to her fullest extent.

"I'll make you all an offer. Surrender yourselves to us and we'll stop the earthquakes," Celesio spoke with a grin. They all looked at her strangely, wondering what she meant. The pinchlings and their goons had some form of involvement with the earthquakes. The dragon squid pulled back the slingshot, a ball of green ink forming from the sling. She let go, watching the ball of ink fly at sonic speed, Celesio stepping aside letting it hit the pink squid in the face, knocking her on her back where she then lay, trying to get the stingy pain to stop.

"Well, that wasn't very nice," Celesio muttered, not caring at all for her assistant's condition.

"Bro?" Alizarin quirked as Cambridge, panting, throwing his shirt off himself, not able to wait to dry off from the saltwater. The red squid was surprised since his blue brother normally was very self-conscious about being seen with any article of clothing off beside his shoes. Cambridge looked angered this time for a normally timid squid.

"Move!" Cambridge told Kreon while pulling the custom inkbrush off his side, flicking it as it switched from its compact form into the thin artist paintbrush, with blue ink dripping off the bristles. He was ready to strike down his opponents. The green dragon squid was confused, but she did so. Cambridge aimed his inkbrush at the pinchling who seemed surprised by his anger and confidence.

"Oh? You want a rematch? I'd love one after the way you cheated in the warehouse," Celesio laughed. Her assistant was about to open fire with her splattershot, but she got splattered by a splash of red ink.

"All yours, Cambridge," Alizarin grinned, holding his slosher which he had attacked with. The pinchling pulled her salt water filled mop brush off her back, tossing aside the water cannon she had. Cambridge quickly leaping at her with his inkbrush overhead, which she guarded, blocking his swing, some of his blue ink splatting onto her arm and face.

"Aw, the little squid is mad," she taunted him. Alizarin was happy to see this, believing that his brother may have finally gotten the spine that he needed ever so badly, and out of nowhere as well. It was a nice change but a somewhat scary one to witness.

"I've had enough of you bothering us!" Cambridge ducked under her two slashes of the mop brush before he kicked her in the stomach, knocking her into the wall. It stunned her partially, and noticing this, he took advantage and spun around, slashing her across the chest with a long slice of blue ink. Celesio tried to put her guard up, but it instantly got broken. He stabbed forward, sending the head of the custom inkbrush into her chest.

"Auuuugh!" Celesio cried out, "Yo…you'll be sorry when daddy comes!"

She splattered into blue ink after that. Cambridge panted while sweating, not intimidated by her threat. He looked over to his siblings. Kreon was partially hiding behind Alizarin, mostly because he had been too slow to hide behind her. That display of fury had somewhat startled them.

"Yo-you okay bro? I mean that was aw-awesome and all, but you really went to town on th-that crab," Alizarin offered his shirt back to him. Cambridge took the saltwater drenched shirt, but after feeling it burn his hand a little on contact, he tossed it aside.

"I can't be weak right now. Come on, we can't stop now," Cambridge walked ahead past them. They stood there for a minute.

"Did you upset him?" Kreon asked. Her brother shook his head, fixing the red crown hair band and keeping his tentacles together. They heard the next door down the hall open, and they began to move to try and keep up with him.

"I don't know. I've been trying to teach him how to be bolder, but uh… I did not expect this," he claimed, the two following along, not wanting to get left behind. They were going to support him the best they could and hope he was just mad about something. They were going to be on their guard now since they witnessed that strange battle.

"Rackley!" Zaffre continuously called for him, but received no response. She panted, leaning against the wall, her muscles aching from the sudden heavy weight they had fought off earlier. Rackley went chasing after the two squids who tried to murder his mother, though in actuality they were only trying to scare them, and they had wound up scared seeing her huge strength. Soon enough, and after catching her fifth wind, she could hear the sound of weapons firing ink. She approached the door it was coming from, opening it. There revealed an open arena, a sign on the wall in giant bold text, calling it 'The Weapons Testing Room'. She looked too the center of the room, where the two assaulting squids and Rackley were hidden behind some fallen debris, and those random squids were shooting at the beast in the center of the room.

"Oh, sweet squidcicles," Zaffre saw a weird over sized monster, its maw having sharp jagged teeth and its tentacles dangling from its back, digging into the ceiling. It looked like an overgrown hybrid of a dragonfish and a giant octopus that had a weird machine strapped to its back. It began to shake the ground around them again. Its tentacles were actually shaking the entire area strongly with them dug into the ceiling. It was a lab experiment gone horribly wrong, and as of today released from its captivity.

The monster opened its mouth and fired black gunk that hit the two squids splattering them Rackley had no clue what to do he was used to fighting robots from the octoling army not living creatures

"Hang on, honey! I'll be there soon! Just don't let it splatter you!" Zaffre called out not wanting to imagine what it could do

"Trust me, I don't want to be splattered," Rackley whimpered, having not anticipated this at all. His blue squid of a mother noticed the familiar looking shutter door closed that looked connected to the garage, that gave her a brilliant idea she rushed off back down the hall.

Cambridge led his siblings involuntarily. Splattering Celesio had struck fear into them. They had walked up a flight of steps, which led to a room full of rows of chairs that went in a ring shape.

"Uh… guys?" Alizarin gained his siblings attention. Their blue brother was uninterested until he turned to see what it was.

"What is that?!" Kreon screamed, the three of them seeing the arena and the irate huge monster. Cambridge felt his eye twitch a little and his heart skip a beat. That was too terrifying to him for his brain to even process. The three's eyes then turned to see Rackley. Cambridge had to take his mind off the item he was searching for after seeing his brother in danger.

"Okay, we found the monster, but how do we get down there?" Cambridge asked. No answer needed to be said, as their red brother took his slosher and bashed out the glass, watching it shatter to tiny shards that rained to the ground. Cambridge really wished he had more than just an inkbrush at his disposal. This beast was going to be tough to beat, though they couldn't tell if it was a monster or a robot. The machine on its back gave a confusing indicator.

"Alright. Let's just get Rackley out of there first of all," Cambridge ordered, hitting the button on the side of his custom inkbrush and changing it into an inkzooka, holding it with his shoulder. He aimed it, firing a burst of blue ink that hit the monster in the side of the head. Tremors were sent out as the monster roared.

"Are you coming or what?!" Kreon asked Alizarin who stood stiff.

"So-Sorry! Just… feels like something I've seen in nightmares…" he and the dragon squid both jumped out the side of the windows landing on the ground. Cambridge kept blasting his inkzooka, hitting the monster in the head and chest, but felt like he was throwing balls at a brick wall. Though the monster targeted just him, he was not going to stop blasting, no matter how intense the earthquakes got. He was going to find the inventions once they made sure all of his family was alright.

"Whoa!" Kreon saw a huge tentacle slam in front of her, which she jumped over, Alizarin having to duck under another one. The monster was not even aiming for them, as they were just in coincidental places for when it turned each step. It made shook the room as hard as the earthquakes that it was now constantly causing, and in turn shaking Inkopolis as well.

"Oh thank goodness…" Rackley sighed in relief seeing his brother and sister, the two could see why he hadn't moved at all now, beyond fear his left tentacle had gotten stuck under a fallen rock and he was too weak to get it off him.

"We weren't going to leave you like this. The world needs the sixth squid ranger," Alizarin laughed, trying to cheer him up.

"Thanks, you guys…" Agent 3 smiled to his siblings, as they were able to remove the rock together.

"Is mom with you?" Kreon asked. Rackley shook his head as he got up, rubbing his lightly sore tentacle.

"She ran off after saying she would be back soon," he stated before they felt the earthquakes intensify. Cambridge's weapon turned back into its normal inkbrush form. The weight lifted off his shoulder was too quick of a change. He fell from the window and onto the dirt ground. The monster let out a heart shaking howl. Just then, they suddenly saw the shutter doors to the side open wide and heard a car revving. A bright mixture of rainbow colored ink flew out and hit the monster in the chest, making it take a step back, looking to be in pain from the attack.

"Whoa," Cambridge looked at the vehicle Zaffre was driving. The octarian rainbow blaster deluxe was loaded with ink and ready to go, and the one big cannon and the two on the sides worked fine. Her children were surprised to see her in it.

"Wow… it actually works," Rackley mumbled. The very vehicle that almost killed him and his mother was now being used to help save their lives. They saw the door raise upwards, Zaffre poking her head out.

"Get in! We're taking that thing down!"


	26. Zaiton

The four siblings seated in the octarian rainbow blaster deluxe, which was quite the spacious vehicle on the inside, Cambridge got stuck sitting on his mother's lap from the lack of seats. But for him, anything was better than being on foot against the scary weird giant chimera. Though Zaffre wondered what happened to the blue squid's shirt, she ignored it, flooring on the gas just as the monster swung another tentacle at them. It missed and flopped to the ground, the vehicle moving with great acceleration.

"Okay! Since you three are on them, use the cannons!" Zaffre told her children. Rackley however was looking over the instruction booklet he had taken earlier from the garage.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sounds of my weapon firing!" Alizarin apologized, already shooting rainbow blasts of ink and hitting the head of the large fish and octopus hybrid. The earthquakes seemed to lessen, and the ink burned the creature, though it was quickly getting it off.

"And I thought my old life was rougher," Kreon muttered while opening fire too, each blast of rainbow ink making the monster recoil in pain as it stepped back. Cambridge noticed a weird keypad on the steering wheel, which his mother had tried already and it had done nothing. She had admittedly hotwired the war vehicle to get it moving, so she might have broken it.

"Uh, Rackley… does that book mention anything about hidden weapons?" Cambridge requested if the keypad had some specific code to put in to activate different weapons. At this point they were driving circles around the monster and blasting ink at it.

"Gimme a second. Just don't let it hit us," Rackley reassured while turning pages, rapidly trying to skim through the booklet as fast as he could to try and figure out anything that could be of use to them in this vehicle beyond the default weaponry. The monster opened its mouth, firing a big burst of black goo which hit the car directly.

"Oh, come on!" Zaffre cried in irritation, turning on the windshield wipers. It barely mopped up the black goo from view, only making the window partially visible. A tentacle stamped the ground in front of them. With little time to react, Zaffre quickly slammed on the break, only to hit the tentacle at next to full speed, sending the car flying in the air. It crashed into the ground upside down, rolling over onto its right side again, though three of the tires were now destroyed. The war machine was surprisingly durable, but now the drivers and passengers of the vehicle were out of their seats, thrown about into uncomfortable positions.

"I can't feel my tentacles…" Alizarin murmured, Cambridge and Kreon realizing they had fallen onto him.

"Sorry!" they said, trying to help him up. Zaffre held her head in pain, having hit her forehead on the windshield. For a war vehicle, it had a lack of safety features for them. Rackley suddenly gained a bright big grin across his face, tossing the instruction booklet aside.

"Let me take the driver's seat!" Agent 3 exclaimed, hopping over the chairs into the driver's seat. He had found something out that brought him to excitement.

"Wait, you aren't old enough to drive yet," Zaffre stated, though the giant monster removed its tentacles from the ceiling, and began to turn around slowly. Each time its foot hit the ground was another shockwave of tremors.

"Please, mom! This is going to be awesome! You're going to live my dream!" Rackley insisted. At this point his mother gave in. He had some ace up his sleeve which she just hoped worked. Cambridge climbed into the back cannon while Kreon and Alizarin got back into their cannons, despite the pain in their bodies.

"Huh… when did you start to get muscles, Cambridge?" Zaffre just noticed that her son actually had gained small muscles recently. She never realized it until now, once again not caring about his lost shirt.

"I-I don't know… Rackley, please hurry!" Cambridge requested while changing he topic, as they saw the monster halfway turned around. Rackley cracked his fingers, typing into the keypad code and entering 3194. The keypad flashed brightly before the lights ended.

"Uhhh… are we moving again?" Alizarin asked. Their tires were nearly all out, but as he noticed, the vehicle was beginning to rise. Suspension underneath the war machine was lifting it up as the front half of it split apart and folded out into a pair of legs. The cockpit they were in rose upwards, centering itself, the black goo clearing away as the sides opened up, revealing arms attached underneath the side cannons. Once it was upright, the back cannon tilted backwards, revealing a head to the war machine that had just transformed into a big robot, though the monster was still nearly twice their size.

"Oh my gosh… I have had millions of dreams of this! It's happening! It's finally happening!" Rackley looked ready to pass out from how excited he was getting. Cambridge nervously tried to figure out what had just happened. He wanted to steal the technology he had read about on the files earlier, but his mindset was being messed up now.

"What happened?!" Zaffre asked the question that everyone else could not force out of their astonished mouths, since all five of them had control consoles now instead of their prior controls.

"It's a zord! The war machine turned into a fighting robot! I've always wanted to pilot a zord!" the squid ranger answered. It was then that they realized the monster had set its eyes on them. It raised one of its giant tentacles up, beginning to swing it downward.

"Watch out!" Kreon and Alizarin made the war robot quickly raise its arms up and catch the attack, stopping the heavy tentacle which made its robotic feet press a little harder into the ground. The two actually synced up pretty well, when they weren't bickering.

"Sh-should I be concerned that I-I find this normal?" Cambridge asked. His brother and sister had control of the arms while he and their mother had control of the legs.

"At this point, honey yes," Zaffre rubbed her head sorely, "But we'll worry about that later once we splatter this beast!"

Zaffre grinned, taking control already and making the robot step aside, letting the tentacle get shoved off. Cambridge got forced into moving his controls, panicking and trying his best not to mess up. Everything felt so complicated, even though the control console was just a control stick and buttons.

"Let's go for the part on its back. I think it might be his weakness," Rackley suggested, his eyes locked on the robotic part sticking out in plain sight. At this point, there was no chance to call the Squid Sisters as deep as they were underground. though he doubted his girlfriend would believe any of this to begin with. They watched as the monster began spraying out its black ink everywhere, covering a lot of the ground. It jumped up into the air and flopped into the ground, splashing the ink up into the air.

"Uh oh," Kreon aimed her cannon, firing multiple blasts of rainbow ink at the black ink above them, that was threatening to hit them. It destroyed the black goo as the rest of it fell around harmlessly. They continued manoeuvring the robot toward the monster. This oddly was very enthralling to the family, though Zaffre wished they could have bonded over weapon cleaning or exercising instead of zord fighting giant monsters.

"Let's see if I can blind it," Rackley hit the button on his control console, watching the third cannon on the back raise up onto the shoulder of their robot. He fired a big burst of rainbow ink that hit the monster in the face, covering its eyes in the stingy burning ink.

"We-we're going in," Cambridge stuttered, trying to muster up courage on this, but everything happening so fast that his mind was having trouble handling it all. Their robot stepped quickly to the back of the giant monster, and they made it jump up and grab onto its back.

"We're on. Now what?!" Kreon asked as she her red brother did their best to keep their robot's grip onto the monster. Agent 3 had no clue. He did not expect them to make it this far.

"Smash that thing!" Zaffre ordered.

"This is a lot of fun!" Alizarin grinned, making the arm he controlled raise forward with its fist clenched, punching it against the robotic parts of the back. The monster let out a howl of agony as Alizarin continued the machine's fists of fury, until the beast began to fall backwards, shoving the octarian rainbow blaster deluxe into the wall, that part of the wall to collapsing on top of them. Silence and darkness filled the family at the moment.

"Di…did we win?" Cambridge asked, hitting a button. No response, as their robot had ceased functioning.

"I guess so. I don't feel like I'm being shaken hard enough to lose my lunch," the green dragon squid chimed, kicking at the windshield, trying to break it open.

"Here sweetheart, you have to put your hip into it more, like this," Zaffre kicked the windshield with brute strength, sending shattered glass everywhere. Rackley was disappointed that the zord was down for the count, but sighed. It was fun while it lasted. They all began to climb out of the ruined and buried robot.

"I'd say that's a win," Alizarin agreed happy that they had won. The monster they had been fighting was now buried under too much rubble that they doubted it was active anymore.

"I'll just cross this off the list of things I never thought I'd do in my life," their mother sighed in relief, wrapping her arms and tentacles around her young squids, feeling great to know she could relax for once.

"Hahaha… don't think this is over yet," a laughter suddenly sounded, and then millions of charger lasers were aimed on them, ready to fire at a heartbeat.

"…can't a mother get one second with her children?" Zaffre groaned, hanging her head low. Cambridge stepped forward and looked upward at the very spectator's box that he had fallen out of with his siblings when trying to save Rackley.

"Wh-who are you?" Cambridge called out. A tall man stood in the upper area, with pale skin and white hair tied into a ponytail running down his back, and wearing a white suit. A big grin showed across his face, with an eye patch on his left eye.

"I am Zaiton the pinchling, and second of the Amabile family line. I understand you're all the ones causing my family issues," the man introduced himself as father to Celesio, he was a yeti crab with an outstanding reputation in the criminal underworld. Just after though, he looked irritated as he reached up and ripped the eye patch off his face.

"Alright, who said I should wear this for dramatic effect? It does NOT help make me look more intimidating. It makes me look like a moronic pirate," Zaiton asked. He had brought dozens upon dozens of inklings armed with chargers at the moment all focused on the Verlegen family. The yeti crab held his head in annoyance.

"That's them, daddy! They've done nothing but attack me and grandpa for the last two weeks!" Celesio chimed up, stepping up beside him, wearing an eye patch herself over her scarred green eye. Her father looked at her irritated, and took the eye patch from her, tossing it aside. One of the many squids they had brought insisted they wear them for dramatic effect, yet the white crab was no longer agreeing with that.

"And injured your pretty face. Boy, I have to say watching you all in action is heartwarming. It's nice to see the Amabile family isn't the only family working in Inkopolis's shadows," Zaiton stated, the metal shutter opening again as more inklings stepped out, all armed with splatling guns. Cambridge could not see any way out of this, and neither could the rest of his family. They were all drained of their energy, and no matter how hard they fought, they would inevitably get splattered.

"Inkopolis's shadows? We just wanted to save it from that earthquake causing freak of nature," Alizarin retorted.

"You mean this useless heap of flesh we used?" Celesio pulled out the remote control and tossed it off the side, now that the monster was gone it was worthless.

"We activated that. Terribly sorry, but we were hoping you coming down here would help find us the genetic modification machine," Zaiton said, a few more inklings stepping up behind him, all of them wearing eye patches too.

"Sorry, mister Amabile, but we couldn't find the machine anywhere. Files said it was stored away. They might have moved it to another facility, but we'll search the lower levels one more time." One of the squids spoke up, not taking into account their boss's anger.

"Oh for the love of… TAKE THOSE STUPID THINGS OFF!" Zaiton shouted. Someone was playing a horrible joke on him and handing out eye patches by the dozen. Kreon had to suppress a giggle, hearing his rage.

"Who even gave you those?! Actually, don't tell me! When we get back, we'll do an entire search of all the rooms! When I get my hands on that idiot, I'll…" Zaiton began to ramble on, Celesio seeming to be the only one with focus on the verlegen family.

"Why did you need us to find this thing? You have a splatoon. Why didn't you just send them in to find it? Why go through all the trouble of causing huge earthquakes that might have damaged the facility more?" Zaffre was not able to put any of this together in her head, but that could be because she was drained mentally and physically.

"Hmm… you make good points," Celesio tapped her chin, then showed that same smile with smug written all over it, "If you're ever interested in joining the Amabile family just let us know. We could use more group coordinators. Hehe!"

Zaffre felt her eyes glaze over, assuming the avoidance of answering meant that they had not remotely thought this plan through. Kreon wondered if she was as bad as the pinchling when she used to act like that. Cambridge was stuck there trying to think of something. The idea he thought of then froze him for a second.

"Psst… I have a plan," Cambridge whispered, creating a triangular ink bomb in his hands behind his back. He dropped it on the ground as the family had their backs against it.

"I want you all to know I love you…" Rackley said, grabbing the first hands and tentacles he could. Zaffre rubbed his head, understanding his fear.

"I love you too, Rackley… I love you all," Zaffre reassured. Cambridge smiled, and in a second, the ink bomb exploded. The splattered family of blue ink vanished instantly, leaving only a pool of blue goop to the piles of various colored ink.

"Uhhh… daddy?" Celesio spoke up, the spider crab getting her father's attention away from all their eye patch wearing goons.

"What is it, Celesio? …dang it, I thought they were out of ink!" Zaiton groaned, having miscalculated that. This entire plan seemed poorly put together, but there was no time to dwell on poor tactics when they were in the midst of said poor plan.

"Alright, squad. Let's get to searching for the machines!" he hollered. The arena began to clear out in seconds. The Amabile family forgetting that someone could not splatter themselves with their own ink grenades. They would have to hit their selves with their own weapons to accomplish that. Once everything was clear, Cambridge poked his head up from his ink in his tiny squid form.

"I'm not going to let them take away my only chance for bringing dad back…!"


	27. Proposal

The goons working for the pinchling wandered around, searching all over the facility after they all got quickly searched for eyepatches that their leader Zaiton was unhappy with. At the moment, two squids were exploring the deepest part of the facility. One of them had a splatling gun on his back, and was more muscular than most inklings. It took considerable strength to carry with ease, but that squid managed.

"When those weird five splattered, I got ink on my best shirt! I don't know what I'm gonna do about it," he complained with blue ink on his shirt from when the family got splattered by the ink grenade. He was walking with a female inkling. Both looked bored out of their skulls, since they so far had found nothing.

"I'm more annoyed that our boss risked destroying the city with little plan at all. That old blue woman had a point, we could've just all come searching way before we needed to activate that forgotten monster," she tried to focus the conversation, not caring about his laundry problems.

"Yeaaaaa… I think that was more Celesio's pinchers at work. I don't know what's up with this, but her dad and grandpa do everything she says like she is some sort of queen," the boy added onto the complaints. Unbeknownst to the both of them, on the ink of muscular squid's shirt was Cambridge, who had snuck onto him very early on in his squid form and had taken advantage of his tiny size to hide inside the ink. He was determined to find the devices, though it did feel nice to hear protest against the Amabile family in any form.

They came through another room, where old-aged offline monitors were arranged with no power going to them. Most were broken, cracked and shattered, even threatening to fall off the wall.

"Huh? What's this?" She saw a weird console full of buttons. Her partner had a slight clue what to do. The top of it read to them to input the code to unlock the security storage for the most dangerous inventions. They assumed that only the top former inventors knew the code to this. Otherwise it seemed like they were going to be stuck here for a long time, trying to figure out how to open it.

"I've seen something like this before. It's in our base. This here is just an outdated model. Just gotta cut the right series of wires in order and you can bypass the need for a password," the muscular squid grabbed the partially rusted keypad and tore the top of it off with ease. Cambridge vowed not to fail his task, but each passing second made it harder for him to stay calm, being so close to the inventions, he hoped the only reason he wanted to take the other machine besides the genetic replication device was for the sake of Agent 3 and the Squid Sisters, most likely being able to do something safer with it than anyone else.

"Can you figure it out? You worked with stuff like this for a few years, right?" she questioned.

"Yeah. It's really outdated though… heh, why don't you handle it?" he offered, pulling out a small pair of scissors from his multi tool kit. She hesitantly took it, sighing.

"Cut the red, then the grey, then blue, and then white," he announced.

"Al-alright…" she nodded, beginning to carefully snip one wire at a time after she found it and pulled it out. Cambridge was not able to wait any longer. He leaped off the ink from the back of the big muscular squid and changed into his inkling form, skidding on the floor to a halt while drawing his custom inkbrush.

"What the-?!" the big squid was confused, seeing the teenage squid here. He pulled his splatling gun off his back, aiming for the shirtless blue squid before beginning to open fire with rapid green ink. Cambridge glared, beginning to spin his custom inkbrush fast like a fan in front of him, blocking and knocking the ink aside, just like Kreon had taught him to do. He darted to the right, beginning to run at him from an angle.

"Oh splat me…" the muscular squid got slashed by his inkbrush, instantly splattering into blue ink. His partner turned around, desperately trying to get her weapon out of its holster on her side, which appeared to be a rapid blaster. Cambridge kept approaching, seeing her stepping away from him slowly until she had her back against the wall.

"Sorry. I can't have any of you in my way right now…" Cambridge raised the inkbrush overhead and swung it downwards, a slash of blue ink hitting her before she splattered into a blue puddle on the ground and wall. Cambridge put the custom inkbrush on his back and then approached the password console. There was only one wire left. Cambridge pulled the wire up to his mouth and bit it into two with his teeth. He began hearing a loud beeping noise as everything began moving, even the floor and walls in front of him. It was certainly a nice change to have things going smoothly.

"Oh jeez," Cambridge said. The walls displayed tons of octarian weaponry, it looked a lot different than a lot of inklings weapons. These weapons had not been touched in a while he presumed seeing the amount of dust falling off them all just when the wall was pushing the rack out, but what he really was after rose from the floor, glass display cases which were all labelled, 'Dangerous Experiments. Do Not Touch.'

"Well, these are weird," Cambridge looked over half of these inventions. Thankfully half of them were tagged with labels, despite a little wear and rub out from the age. One experiment looked like an adorable yellow shirt that had happy octopi and crabs all over it in random areas. He opened up the safety glass and pulled the shirt out. He needed a new article of clothing, considering he still was going around shirtless after abandoning his shirt because it got soaked in saltwater.

"What makes this dangerous?" Cambridge asked himself, looking inside the shirt. No weird machinery or anything harmful. He slipped it over his head and tentacles and put it on. It felt incredibly soft around his body. He then saw a note in the safety case he had gotten it out of, pulling it out and opening it.

"Please do not be mad. I've been using this safety case as a personal clothes storage. Sorry to whichever head researcher finds it. - anonymous."

Cambridge was relieved that he did not have to be paranoid about being murdered by clothing. He put the note back and closed the case. He began to look all over the area, scanning each case until he found the genetic modification machine. He thought Rackley and the Squid Sisters would want to put them somewhere way safer. Cambridge saw a tiny box in the display case. He pulled it out and took the lid off.

"Laser pointers?" he raised an eyebrow. Inside the box were five various colored laser pointers. He grabbed the green one on the far left side that had a 1 symbol on it. He aimed it at the ceiling, wondering if it worked. He hit the button on the side, watching the upper half of the laser pointer split in half, beginning to unfold into a wide metallic rod with a grey ball at the top.

"O-oh… it's very compact…" Cambridge gulped, afraid of messing up his genes. He hit the button again, watching it instantly retract and close. The blue inkling stuffed it back into the box and closed it tight. He put it in his tentacles, letting them hold onto it. At last, he found the genetic replication device nearby in another case, the very thing he was determined to get at any cost. It was a weird dual crescent shaped metallic device on a pedestal with a small part on the back of it. The two crescents made a wide circular oval. It was so sleek to him.

"There you are…" Cambridge panted in excitement and fear. He looked down at his necklace, the three teeth from his father on it, the charm he got from his brother and the scale he got from his sister. He pulled it out, carefully holding it in his hands, his mind racing and his heart pounding.

"I knew something was wrong!" he suddenly heard. Now there was another hand on the genetic replication device. The blue inkling looked and saw Celesio alone, who had come to see what had occurred when the two Cambridge had splattered reported they had been attacked.

"Le-let go of it!" Cambridge demanded, trying his best to sound scarily angry, but was unable to. The two struggled with the machine, pulling back and forth.

"Hahaha! No! It you want it so badly, then it makes it valuable enough for the Amabile family to steal," Celesio retorted mockingly. Cambridge's eyes glared into her green and blue orbs. The pinchling wanted revenge against the whole Verlegen family, just for their association with Kreon. Suddenly they both fell backwards. With a loud thud, Cambridge saw the two halves of the G.R.D. The inkling and the pinchling both had half of it, despite how fixable it appeared to be. The young squid knew getting it from her was not going to be easy.

"My, that was not quite as sturdy as it appeared," Celesio admitted as they both got up. Cambridge pulled his ink brush off his side, swinging at her widely. She ducked under the swings, watching it bash into one of the safety cases, the glass shattering everywhere. Cambridge realized his weapon was stuck, and before he knew it, the pinchling was behind him. She turned her free hand into its claw form and hammered his ink tank. The blue ink drained out from it and pooled onto the floor. His inkbrush was nothing more than a harmless mop now.

"Please, just give it back and let me go," Cambridge begged as the two faced each other without weapons. The spider crab girl had no other weapon after she had gotten splattered.

"Why should I? You've done nothing but harm the Amabile family. Pilfering money, assaulting our other family members, and scarring the precious gem of the entire pinchling line!" she exclaimed, upset. the blue squid shook his head, thinking he would prefer a verbal argument to a physical one.

"What about your family? Your dad murdered Alizarin's foster dad! Need I also remind you that Kreon got a scar just as bad as yours, and the money pilfered? It belonged to her, because her former buddies stole nearly all of her coins," Cambridge retorted. Celesio felt a nerve hurt from hearing this. She knew her father was a murderer, but she wished she had not known whatsoever.

"You Verlegens are the first family to ever rival the Amabile family. You should feel honored. That is quite an accomplishment, but sadly, we are enemies. So let me just crush this in my claw! Hahahaha!" Celesio laughed, as the other half of the genetic replication device in her hand was suddenly trapped in her claw. Cambridge felt his heart stop. Before the spider crab could begin crushing it, he spoke up.

"Stop! Please… please, I'll do anything. Just… just don't destroy it! I need it!" Cambridge begged. Celesio quirked an eyebrow as her hand turned back to normal, the other half of the G.R.D receiving no damage beyond a few scratches. Cambridge watched as she begins to walk around him, the blue squid holding the GMM and the other half of the GRD.

"Hmm…" Celesio hummed to herself, grabbing both of his tentacles and lifting them up, looking at the underside of them. The pinchling let them go, flopping back to their position before she did another few laps around him.

"I won't deny. You're stronger than you look. Really nice personality, and quite robust tentacles… and a surprisingly moderate IQ… with a height issue," she stated. The mention of robust tentacles made him blush a little.

"What generation of your family are you?" Celesio questioned, confusing him even more. Cambridge had been told a lot about his ancestry when he was younger by his grandparents, and only had a vague recollection of it, which he then tried his best to recall.

"Um… th-the eighteenth, I think…" Cambridge said. She seemed a little surprised by this.

"Really? An eighteenth generation squid? Oh my, that is so rare! Daddy told me that my mother was a fourteenth generation octopus," Celesio exclaimed. The blue inkling was glad to see her happy, but he was more lost than ever. The pinchlings seemed to have had some interaction with octarians. He wondered if they knew about Rackley's scuffles against the octoling army, but that was not the topic for the moment.

"S-so? Wh-what does any of that matter? I said I'd do an-anything for that half of the machine," Cambridge stuttered. Celesio flashed a big grin, like she had just received a great reward.

"It means you're a great subject, with genes as prime as yours, I would be a fool to pass the chance up on them." Celesio replied with a big smile, holding her half of the machine out. He hesitantly reached for it, but before he could take it, she pulled back as if she was teasing him, "It's decided… you shall become my husband!"

Things went quiet enough to only sound a pin drop. Cambridge blinked in surprise, trying to ignore the comments about his genetics.. "What? I… you want me to marry you?"

"Yes! As the third generation of the newest evolved species on this planet, I am giving you the exceptional chance of a lifetime. You should be glad. This is an honor that I am offering my heart to you," Celesio repeated herself. Cambridge had no clue on what to say. His mind was blank. At first it was racing with thoughts, and now there was nothing. He looked at the pinchling and the device she held. She was acting like he was the best cow of a herd to select. The blue inkling wondered if someone he had been fighting for a while had been harboring secret feelings for him. That or she wanted something else entirely from him. Cambridge gulped and closed his eyes.

"Fin-fine… I'll be your husband…"


	28. Advice

Cambridge walked toward the exit of the research facility with Celesio beside him whom was positively radiant as if any hatred was gone. The blue squid had the important two devices clutched closely to his chest in his arms. The goons that the Amabile family had brought with them cast various looks at the two, wondering whether or not to attack the blue squid, as one of their bosses wasn't screaming her head off demanding they open fire immediately.

"I'll have you know that we've been in Octo Valley for quite some time. The sun has probably set by now," Celesio commented. Her fiancé by lack of choice did not care what time it was. He was glad to have just gotten the GRD. However, just as they got outside of the facility back into Octo Valley, they saw the yeti crab nearby with various other squids. The rest of their squadron had only begun clearing out of the facility moments ago.

"Celesio! There you are!" Zaiton approached, and in less than a second, Cambridge had a saltwater blaster in his face. He felt a bit disappointed in himself for having gotten used to being in this threatened position, but anytime he was near the Amabile family, he could not go five seconds without a weapon or a threat aimed at him. The spider crab got in front of her father, putting a hand on his weapon and forcing him to lower it.

"Daddy, don't be rude to my future husband!" Celesio stated. The blue squid could see the disappointed look on her father's face. The yeti crab looked to the ceiling of a sky that Octo Valley had, with a frustrated groan and a palm on his forehead.

"Celesio, deary… please do not tell me you've decided on him to be the one? There are far more considerable candidates that would fit far better as a mate," Zaiton requested. Cambridge could not force any words out of his mouth. Before he knew it, his fiancée had stolen the genetic modification machine from his arms, letting him keep the GRD that he wanted desperately.

"Nope! He's the one! He even got this for us, daddy! It's that important doohickey we were searching for," Celesio lied. Cambridge hated to imagine that device falling into their hands, but he did not imagine that they could do any harm with it, but he doubted Rackley would care as long as he didn't tell him anyway.

"Really?" Zaiton quirked, opening the box to see the laser pointer disguised objects. He closed it, holding the box under his arm before reaching up for one of his gloved hands and taking the left glove off. Several rings were unveiled, three on each finger. Cambridge gulped, imagining the immense pain from being punched by those, far worse than a pair of brass knuckles. The white haired man began to take off four of the rings.

"How old are you, and what is your name? My little ocean pearl has told me all about your sister, but nothing about you... beyond the splatterings you caused," Zaiton requested, having a glare that threatened him with a far worse fate than a squid mafia if he hurt his daughter.

"I-I'm Cambridge Verlegen… I turn fifteen in two days, actually," Cambridge put the GRD in his tentacles tightly before being handed two rings which held pearls. It was a surprise to him, as they were extremely rare to get, and anyone who sold one could become a billionaire within the hour. The red pinchling held two gold spheres on her rings, showing them to Cambridge with a bright smile.

"Mister Verlegen, as the second of the Amabile family line, despite our families' feud… you have at least captivated my daughter. This decision is not being made because you brought me the very thing we came here to get… this decision is because I trust her decision, and want her to be happy. The Amabile family future is looking brighter a little though, thanks to the machine you've given us… as such, I grant you permission to marry her," Zaiton exclaimed, his daughter turned to him, Cambridge doing the same facing her following her lead at this point.

"As tradition in our family, the next to be wed are gifted the most valuable rings to marry with. You may now both put one of each ring on your hands," Zaiton continued. Cambridge watched Celesio slip one of the gold rings onto her own ring finger, and then put one on his hand. The blue squid did the same, putting the first pearl ring on his other ring finger, and then slipping the other one onto Celesio's other hand. She looked overjoyed with this. They could hear a lot of clapping from the squids around.

"Eye patches for everyone!" One inkling spoke up from the group, as if he wanted a pirate themed celebration.

"Oh, for… no way! I'll hang you upside down and have you dunked in saltwater every hour on the hour for a week!" Zaiton screamed, not recognizing the voice that was toying with him, though he already could see several of the followers of the pinchlings wearing eye patches with bright smiles. The yeti crab looked ready to have a breakdown from having all this occur in such a short time.

"Um… tha-thank you, mister Amabile…" Cambridge thanked him, at least wanting to be nice since they were being nice to him. He still had no clue how to feel about the situation. Celesio pulled him into a tight hug.

"I never thought I'd see this day so soon! Thank you so much!" she hummed, holding his hand in hers. Cambridge felt his heart warm up, seeing a bright smile on her face and genuine kindness in her eyes. The scar on her face had implanted some paranoid fear in her head that her perfect image was ruined, but he could tell she was fighting those thoughts into the back of her mind.

"You're uh… it's my-my pleasure…" Cambridge stuttered, looking at the GRD in his tentacles before glancing down at the necklace with the five charms still on it.

"I imagine you're eager to put that invention to use. Here is my phone number. Give me yours and we can discuss things later," Celesio smiled, pulling out a pen and writing her cellphone number on the palm of his hand. The blue squid did as he was told, writing his number in trade on her hand.

"Start packing up, everyone! We have to get back to the home!" Zaiton shouted, though he felt a nerve pop from seeing even more of his family's loyal followers wearing eye patches. They knew full and well about this upsetting him too.

"Take care, my husband," Celesio laughed before kissing his cheek quickly. Cambridge stood there with a blush on his face, watching them all begin to leave, the entire inkling splatoon leaving with the two Amabile family members, and in barely a minute, everyone had cleared out. Cambridge stood there in the silent Octo Valley.

"…now what have I done? My family's going to splatter me for this…! Auuugh!" the blue inkling was buried under stress and pent up emotions for days now, and he took the time to vent them out of his mouth. He plopped onto the ground and then lay back, the GRD beside him with one of his tentacles. He stared at the rings on his hands, his emotions now all over the place, his mental state breaking apart. He had no clue how he was going to tell his family. The shy blue squid to be married to the very people that they had been fighting for the last few weeks was never going to be good news.

"…is-is this good? Bad? I don't know what to do, dad. Should I be happy, or sad…?" Cambridge muttered to himself, acting as if the teeth around his neck were able to respond. After another minute, his mind and body felt a lot better to even have the most minimal of rest to recover. He forced himself onto his feet, picking up the genetic replication device. He made his way back to the entrance of Octo Valley to Inkopolis, eager to get out, but he could not go home right now. He had one place specifically in mind to go instead.

It was around one more hour until midnight in Inkopolis. Cambridge was nearing Jellyfish Harbor, his feet stepping on the dock in a matter of minutes. He had texted Zaffre and only told his mother that he was safe and would be spending the night at a friend's, because he was too tired to get back home. Half of that was not a lie. He definitely was too tired to get home, but he wanted to make a stop at the storage facility his father had rented. It still had a lot of years left in it, and he had the key. Cambridge figured making this his personal area, a place to go to think when he was upset, but normally his family could help him with most emotional issues, but right now his mind was buzzing once again. The rings on his hands gripped around the GRD as he neared the warehouse.

"Finally…" Cambridge breathed a sigh of relief once he got inside the storage warehouse, closing the door behind him. He went and placed the genetic replication device down on a box before he sat in front of it, letting his custom inkbrush fall to the floor.

"I'm so sorry dad… I'd do anything to have you back… even if it meant raising you from a squishie…" Cambridge looked ready to have a breakdown himself. He looked down at his necklace and his father's teeth. It was funny to him how he had the machine that he had fought so hard for, and even offered his hand in marriage for it, but now he was too afraid to use it.

"But… what'll become of mom and Rackley… and Ali and Kreon?" Cambridge held his head. He could only wonder how it would affect their lives. The Verlegens were a family formed of broken bonds and shattered lives uniting together to a brighter future. Sheen probably knew this if he was informed long before his death. Cambridge wondered if reviving him would be good or harmful to the family. It would not even technically be his dad, or if he was, he would probably not tell the truth about anything his son had to question. This decision was bugging him a lot, but then an idea came to him.

"…that's it!" Cambridge sprung up, going over to the small collection of tapes beside the tiny television his father had created, rummaging through them all until he found the two videos, respectively labeled 'Marriage' and 'Decisions'. He only went to find these tapes because he knew his father had created them all to leave advice for his son. He pushed the first video tape into the VHS player and turned on the television, taking a seat on the empty box behind him. When the video began playing, his father was shown in his car with mud all around.

"Hey there, Cambridge. Sorry for the background here. I got stuck in a trench and can't get out, so while I'm waiting for your mom to come save me again, free tip. Never rent cars, but it's left me a lot of time to think about your marriage… I really wish I could be there for it," Sheen began talking with his camera resting on the dashboard and his seat reclined back. The orange inkling was both depressed and happy, imagining he would never get to see the day his son got married beyond the vision that psychic gave him.

"I imagine your mom'll hate it. Me? I don't care as long as you have love. There is piles upon piles of advice I could give for relationships, but honestly, I think it would be a lot better if you handled it the same way I did; blindly and taking it one thing at a time… though uh… I left you a tape that should have three red X's on it. Please only view that if you absolutely need it. Congrats on your big day, either way!" Sheen explained. The video ended, not giving any answer of who his son was even marrying, due to the rule of not being allowed to tell someone else of their future.

"…I might just burn that tape," Cambridge thought, not wanting to even touch the one with three red X marks on it. He took the first tape out and popped in the 'Decisions' video. When it began playing, the screen showed a nursery. His father was in a rocking chair, holding a tiny blue squishie that was cuddling tight to his plush squid doll while sucking on a pacifier in his father's lap.

"Hey Cambridge… err… future Cambridge… you know it is weird to give advice to someone for their future self while you have them in your arms, so who knows? Maybe you'll remember what I say here. You look like a smart squishie," Sheen started talking, his tentacles dangling loosely with no care. He looked tired, as the video was recorded in the middle of the night. Cambridge assumed that his father was having a sleepless night due to him.

"There are times in your life where decisions will come, small and big. Either they are presented to you or you worked hard to get that decision. But there are always difficult decisions, even if you aren't aware of them. I'd like to think I'm happy with mine. I mean, look at you," Sheen hummed, pointing a hand at the squishie in his lap that squirmed a little in his slumber, very much at peace while being rocked in the rocking chair.

"And… well, if you're watching this because you are stuck on a decision with no clue on what to do, you need to remember this… the answer is time. Even if you can do it right now, you need to think if you can, and think very hard, as long as you have thought about it very well. Then no matter what you pick, it will be the right choice," Sheen finished with a smile. A lot of Cambridge's pressure and stress from his mind was absorbed and taken away at this very moment. His dad was right. As long as the blue squid had the three teeth on the necklace with his other charms and the GRD, then it would be fine. Time was something he had plenty of. The blue squid decided to think on this a lot as well, as whether to involve his family or not.

"You take care. I gotta put you back to bed," the videotape ended with his father getting up with the squishie in his arms, before turning off the camera. Cambridge smiled, going over and grabbing the device. He hid it in the only place he could think of, underneath the very piles of tapes his father had made for him. Once it was back in with the other tapes, he closed it tight and pulled out his cellphone.

"Wow…" he muttered, looking at the time. It was very late now. He looked around the storage warehouse.

"Well… I guess there's no problem sleeping here," Cambridge shrugged. He wanted to fall asleep instantly. Today had been very draining. He sat down in front of the box and lay down on the floor, using his tentacles as pillows. It was slightly cold, but he would survive.

"I love you, dad…" he whispered only one thought on his calm mind, "I promise I'll think hard before I do anything…"


	29. Pinchlings past

Cambridge lay flat on his back, asleep in the storage warehouse with his tentacles underneath his head, the necklace full of items from his family on his chest. But due to him forgetting to lock it, someone else arrived.

"Wuh?" Cambridge groggily muttered, his blurry vision taking a moment to clear. He realized he was not on the ground, and instead held up by the back of his shirt collar.

"Wake up, boy," a familiar voice spoke. Cambridge was being held by Crion, the coconut crab having snuck in. Thankfully the elder pinchling appeared to be alone. The young squid groaned while being put back on his feet. He recalled that the old pinchling had another warehouse nearby acting as his getaway location, or a general home he preferred to reside in than other areas.

"Crion? Uh… are you here to beat me up?" Cambridge nervously asked with his tentacles wrapping around himself for some sense of comfort. At the moment, the blue squid wanted to just be back with his family now.

"Young'un, I'll have you know if I was here to assault you, I'd have brought my squad to help tie you up and let us all take turns beating you to squid guts," Crion replied. Cambridge was not sure if he should be relieved or even more afraid. The first pinchling of his race pulled out something from his pocket.

"Wha-what is this?" Cambridge asked, being handed forms of small upgrades that were hard to afford. Usually any person could switch out the special ability of their weapons if they owned an upgrade module, though the blue squid could not tell what the special ability of this was, though he was eager to install it.

"Consider it my early wedding gift. I won't lie, I really wish that Jelek fool had not brought me those coin cards… because ever since I got them, chaos has ensued. And on top of that he escaped the warehouse during your last assault for that briefcase, I can't find that spineless jellyfish anywhere," Crion replied, though quickly stopped himself from continuing to ramble on that was quite irritating. Cambridge had nearly forgotten Jelek. He wondered what had become of the jellyfish when he escaped his torture.

"I-I'm sorry I only at-attacked you, because I had to prove my brother in-innocent. Zaiton killed his dad," Cambridge spoke, not wanting to lie to the coconut crab. The fear of his head being crushed by a giant claw was one reason, but truthfully he wanted to take the open and get everything out in the air route. Zaiton was a murderer, and just like his granddaughter, Crion seemed to look annoyed being told this too.

"I know he did. The idiot came requesting me to do it. I told him no and ordered all of the squids working for me refuse to aid in his act. The Amabile family will do a lot to get what they want. They'll torture, fight, bribe, win turf wars, but we will never kill another being. Us pinchlings are a rare species with only us three existing. We should not be hypocrites and instead try to find ways that both parties can be happy," Crion exclaimed, referring to the hypocrisy of the murder. The elder crab hated imagining Alizarin's pain after the murder, but he could not exactly hand over the briefcase either when they attacked his warehouse after all. Mostly because of his reputation.

"I-I think I understand… thank you fo-for the gift. I like it," Cambridge thanked him, wanting to install it into his custom inkbrush when he could. He felt a hard slap on his back that was hard enough to rattle his body and almost knock him on the floor.

"You're transparent when you're afraid, you know that? Though I am glad you're marrying my granddaughter. Bonds forged after a long time of hate tend to be the strongest," Crion added while the two stepped out of the warehouse, Cambridge closing the door behind them before locking it. He couldn't risk him seeing the box of tapes that were hiding the GRD machine.

"I-I'm a Verlegen. Forging broken bonds together into one strong one is what w-we do," the blue inkling tried to sound a bit more like he knew what he was saying. He had just had that thought in his head constantly from the moment he thought of it last night.

"I'll contest that your family is quite durable, more than most rivals than the Amabile family has had. Your family has defeated us far more than anyone else would have," he sighed, looking quite depressed during their walk on the harbor, each step on the wooden floor creaking beneath their feet.

"My son murdered someone… it may be what the Amabile family swore against, but we don't know what to do to one that has broken that rule… but that is something I can worry about later. This is a great time, after all now my granddaughter has a fiancé!" Crion refocused the topic halfway through. He did not want to show his sadness so badly.

"Uh… yes! Celesio is… very unique," Cambridge nodded, trying to be cheery about this at the moment, though he was more interested in getting home. The elder pinchling patted his head.

"You'll do fine boy, as long as you got a good head on your shoulders and a strong soul in ya heart. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go handle other affairs. Oh, and Celesio said she was working on a surprise for you," Crion bid him farewell and headed in the opposite direction. Cambridge felt relieved that he was no longer around a dangerous criminal, though he wondered what gift his fiancée could possibly be making him. He continued on his way wanting to get home as soon as possible. As much as the sun shone, it seemed to be ten in the morning.

It took another hour for Cambridge to get home. He was lucky to have gotten a ride on the bus he had caught at the first bus stop. He passed like his luck was turning around. During the bus ride, he had replaced the special ability of his custom inkbrush with the new part he had been given. Cambridge had no clue what to expect with this, but he assumed he would find out the next time he got into a fight and had to use it. The bus began to come to a stop, and Cambridge got out of his seat, seeing his apartment complex nearby. Quickly he disembarked the vehicle and went to get inside his home. He had missed his family after being away all night.

"I'm home!" Cambridge called out as he stepped inside, the door closing behind him. His back hurt a little from the rough floor he had slept on at the warehouse. His custom inkbrush dangled in its compact form off his side.

"Thank goodness, you're back," Kreon said, coming from their room down the hall, followed by Alizarin popping out of the kitchen. There was no sign of their mother so far, though the young blue squid could see Rackley still sleeping on the couch with his thumb in his mouth, appearing to have a dream of memories from his squishie days.

"You feeling okay?" Alizarin remembered how his brother had been acting in the weapons development facility, though the blue squid still had not yet decided whether or not to tell them about the GRD and his desire to recreate his deceased father, though that was one of the many things stressing him out at the moment. His family had been worrying about his well being, considering he had stayed behind in the weapons development facility when he splattered them all.

"I'm just tired, but I'll get over it… where's mom?" Cambridge requested to know while being hugged by his brother and sister. He felt horrible for making them worry this much, and he returned their hug.

"She's at the grocery store," Alizarin left out when their mother had spent a lot of the early morning exercising, more intensely than she normally did, so much so that she used the sleeping Agent 3 as an extra weight at some points.

"Um… alright. When she gets back, I'd like to tell everyone some news… if we can get Rackley up by then," Cambridge was happy to see them well and cheerful. He wanted to try and get everyone's support, or at least them knowing what he was involved in now with the Amabile family.

"Alright. For now, let's go play some squid kart," Alizarin happily went over to get the game system hooked up to the television.

"Oh wow! Those are some nice rings!" Kreon commented upon seeing her sibling's new jewelry. She wondered where he had gotten it.

"Th-thanks. Come on, I want to be Player 3," Cambridge smiled, taking her by the hand to go over to play their game. He imagined Rackley was quite drained from how exciting things had gotten yesterday, but at least he got to live his dream. When the young blue squid took his seat, he pulled out his cellphone and texted his fiancée.

"I've thought about it, and I'm going to give this relationship a chance... even if the circumstances are crazy. Come to my apartment. - Cambridge"

After an hour of playing, Rackley eventually woke up and seemed more than happy to see his younger brother back home with no injuries while joining them in their game. Agent 3 seemed content to have lived the dream he never imagined would have happened, but the squid ranger could not wait to tell his girlfriend, and her cousin and their grandfather about it in grand detail. After a moment, they heard a knocking at their door.

"Okay, uh… I want you all to know that this is a guest that I invited for my… big news, I guess… please don't freak out," Cambridge looked nervous while he went to the door. His three siblings were confused as they watched. The blue squid tried to take in a breath to calm down, before he opened the door.

"You certainly know timing when to contact me. I was running an errand for my father nearby," Celesio greeted her fiancé by lack of choice, seeming quite happy to see him. He wondered if that text had brightened her mood.

"Is that…?" Kreon's jaw dropped and her heart skipped a beat. Celesio entered with a small bag in her left hand. The dragon squid's eyes were wide as their scarred faces looked to each other's.

"Should I be scared?" Alizarin quirked. He didn't want the answer, but was going to assume the worst, turning into his red squid form and hiding behind Rackley at the moment. Agent 3 seemed indifferent, but seeking revenge on her for hurting his girlfriend Marie was not his mindset.

"Pl-please sis, she's not here to-to fight or cause problems," Cambridge requested. Celesio could feel the dragon inkling's intense glare looking intensely into her scarred face.

"Are you insane?! What is she even doing here?! All this crazy crab wants to do is kill us all!" Kreon roared at her sibling. Cambridge froze, not able to talk. He really wanted to announce the news when his mother got back, but his mind was drawing up blanks at the moment, he felt his sisters tentacles around his neck as if threatening to strangle him, if she hated the answer..

"Don't make me ask again. Tell me what you're doing here!" Kreon turned to Celesio. She could feel the scar on her face throbbing, just when she had long since accepted her injury. The pinchling had not exactly come to terms with her own facial injury. Finally, their locked glares were broken when Celesio looked away with a huff while crossing her arms.

"For your information, I'm not here to fight right now. In fact, I have put aside all my issues for the time being, because this is a very joyous time for the Amabile family," Celesios's words surprised the Verlegens. Even Cambridge was shocked that the similarly aged spider crab was acting peaceful, though he presumed the surprise she was making him was not ready yet, or on her person. Kreon removing her tentacles from her brothers neck.

"Then what are you here for?" Rackley chirped, Alizarin peeking his head over his shoulder to see if the fight was over or not. As brave as he claimed he was, he had seen what Celesio could do before she was able to cause a lot of damage, probably as much as she did with her father. Kreon sat down, putting one leg over the other, still not exactly happy or letting her guard down.

"Well… while I was running an errand for my father, I got a text message from Cambridge to come over. I was quite surprised he would invite me to his home so soon," Celesio reached into the bag and pulled out a miniature clay figure that had been made by hand. It depicted an octopus balancing on one tentacle while holding trays of plates in the rest of their tentacles, like some sort of circus act.

"Daddy requested me to go to our old home and retrieve my mother's memento. She was a stage performer known as the balancing mistress… unfortunately my father claims she died shortly after I was born, but I've learned as much about her as I could," Celesio exclaimed. The Verlegens felt odd to have her acting so relaxed and open around them, or at least she came off that way. Cambridge smiled, seeing Alizarin turn back into his inkling form and stand up, calming down to the situation.

"When mom gets here, I wanted to announce the news, Celesio," Cambridge explained what he wanted her here for, she understood now.

"Of course," Celesio smiled and nodded. Barely a minute passed before the blue inkling watched his fiancée put the mini figure back in her bag and approached his brothers and sister.

"I understand that our families are enemies… but I hope we can change that. I did not enjoy what I did to all of you. But I had to do it, since I was told disobeying daddy's orders would have brought me immense trouble…" she began, looking to the red squid first. Agent 3 moved aside to let her address him. Alizarin felt like he was going to get attacked by some hidden weapon.

"I feel horrible for what happened to your father," Celesio spoke to the red squid, sending her condolences, "Grandpa and me didn't know until long after the trial. We are Amabiles. We do everything we can to get what we want, but murder is not one of them. But we can't do anything to daddy… we don't even know where to begin with it at all. I know for certain you could never forgive him, and I'm not certain I can either…"

"He was my second dad…" Alizarin sighed, still not completely over it, though not giving a distinct answer whether or not he forgave her family, "My real one is in jail. But I'm doing a lot better with my new family. I couldn't ask for anyone better."

"As for you, I understand that the jellyfish we were torturing had pilfered how many coins from you?" the pinchling asked the dragon squid.

"Come again?" Kreon gave a venomous glare.

"Pl-please try and be a bit more… I-I don't know… more tactful with your questions," Cambridge pleaded. His fiancée looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not understanding what he meant exactly.

"…ninty million… ninty million coins taken from me, and Jelek was the leader of it all," Kreon reluctantly answered. Celesio rummaged around in her pocket and pulled out her wallet, throwing it to her. It bounced off Kreon's chest and plopped into her lap.

"Is this some joke?" Kreon picked it up, examining it.

"Nope! Inside is a few platinum cards. Approximately sixty million coins! Though this is not the Amabile family's money, but my own personal savings from my weekly coin allowance," the pinchling claimed. It was more of a slight peace offering at the moment. The dragon inkling could only stare at the platinum cards inside, feeling her heart pick up a lot. She had not held this much money in her hand in such a long time.

"Don't you want your wallet back?" she quirked.

"No, thank you. I could do with a new one anyway. I feel I also should inform you that while we were torturing Jelek, he was rambling about how sorry he was for what he did to you… something about spreading horrible rumors or some babble like that," Celesio gave the information she had. Kreon sighed, having a feeling that was exactly what happened. She never imagined that such a close friend would have betrayed her, but she had been through that loop of guilt for her own feelings.

"Well… thanks, I guess, for torturing him. I feel a lot better as a Verlegen now, they've… well, they've shown me what true friendship and family is like," Kreon thanked her reluctantly. The atmosphere had cooled down and became warm. Cambridge smiled, seeing things actually going smoothly. The pinchling went to Agent 3, who seemed to be the only one not intimidated or filled with hatred for her.

"is there something on my face?" Rackley asked, noticing her just staring at him, looking a little surprised now that she was seeing him up close, like she recognized him. She coughed, getting over the hesitation she had gotten out of nowhere.

"I apologize for the horribly poor planning that damaged Inkopolis an unknown amount. It's just as much my fault for allowing the monster to stay activated when I had the controls. Even my own followers were requesting me to shut it off," Celesio felt bad for actually doing so much damage. The constant earthquakes the other day had actually done minor damage, even if it was her father Zaiton's plan. Her cooperating with no care or thought when she could have stopped it was just as bad, if not worse.

"You kiddin'? I got to pilot a zord you helped me achieve a dream," Rackley replied, having gotten to do that he would be happy for weeks. Celesio though presented a pen and paper while being slightly bowed.

"Could I… receive your autograph?" Celesio requested. Kreon snickered from seeing her doing this.

"You're a fan of the squid rangers?" Agent 3 was surprised while taking the pen and paper, beginning to write his signature down. He never really had done many signings for people beyond a few kids and rarely adults.

"I've watched it since it premiered," Celesio admitted while being handed her autograph.

"To one very cool crab, Celesio. Stay fresh." She felt embarrassed, but happy to have this.

"Wow… I was expecting to have to take a few hits of saltwater or ink to stop the fighting," Cambridge confessed, glad to see everything going greatly. They heard the door open again.

"Alright, I'm home… huh?" Zaffre spoke with groceries hanging on both arms and some of her tentacles. She wasn't even surprised to see Celesio in her home at this point, as she knew her son was a magnet for attracting strange people. She was glad to see Cambridge safe and sound though.

"Mom… uh… we have to talk, please," the young blue squid muttered. Zaffre nodded, rubbing her head. She went to drop the groceries in the kitchen, deciding to put them away later.

"I'm about to have a heart attack…" Cambridge's nervous head worded.


	30. History

The Verlegens were all seated in the living room, Alizarin sitting on one of the arm rests of the couch, and Rackley sitting beside Kreon. Zaffre was in the lone recliner the chair which she loved for how soft it was, but she tried to not make it her common choice of seats because she did not want to relax too often. Cambridge stood in front of them all, Celesio beside him and waiting for him to speak out the whole reason he had invited her over. Things had turned out way more peaceful than he could have hoped.

"Honey, are you going to tell us the news?" Zaffre asked. Her son looked ready to pass out on the spot.

"Ye-yeah, I'm uh… trying to think of how to word it, and so far I can't think of anything," Cambridge replied. His fiancée sighed, holding her head, wondering if she was wrong about his moderate intelligence.

"If you prefer, I could announce it, considering your speech impediment," Celesio offered, seeing a look from her fiancé who was unsure if she genuinely thought he had a problem with speaking while nervous, or a disability that caused it.

"Come on, man! If it's bad news, then we'll make sure your birthday party tomorrow is even greater," Alizarin gave a thumbs up, Rackley ducking before the red squid got smacked by one of Kreon's tentacles, which stuck to her brother's face.

"Y'know, Ali, I think you need a reminder of what exactly a SURPRISE party is," the dragon squid spoke through her clenched sharp teeth, removing her tentacle from his face. Their adoptive mother could not help but laugh a little at their constant squabbling. It was cute to her how the two acted.

"Sorry, but he is right. Tomorrow is going to be an important day. Any bad things should be brought up now to not ruin tomorrow right?" Rackley tried to approach through a more reasonable area in the conversation. Cambridge took in a breath and exhaled in an attempt to calm down, though that failed miserably, but he nodded, understanding. He shakily took Celesio's hand in his.

"I'm… well we're... engaged," Cambridge murmured. No one really heard him well. This was one of the more severe cases of fright he had gotten. His mother had only seen him get this nervous during his first turf war. He was terrified of their reactions.

"I think I had something in my ear. Can you repeat that?" Alizarin requested. Celesio was trying to not burst out laughing at this comedic scene, his mumbling had actually made it next to quiet so no one heard his first attempt.

"Me and Celesio… uh… we're… engaged!" Cambridge finally announced through his stammering nervousness. Once again, silence took over in the Verlegen household. He was trying to keep a smile up, while Celesio swore she felt him squeezing her hand hard enough to mimic one of her pincers.

"Sorry, still think I've got something in my ear," Alizarin tried to clean out his pointy ears with his pinky fingers, unsure if he heard it right.

"Engaged…?! My baby boy is already engaged before he's even fifteen… oh my gosh…" Zaffre held her head. This was the first in a long time that news had shocked her hard enough to actually make her lose her train of thought.

"Bu-but mom… you married dad when you were barely sixteen," Cambridge replied. His mother leaned back in her recliner. She had to contest that he had her there with a lot of truth of her fast growing relationship with Sheen after they first had met, she began to quickly calm down like her son knew her weak points in a conversation.

"Congratulations!" Rackley stood up, clapping like a desperate attempt to soften the tense atmosphere, but no one else joined him. He sat back down, embarrassed.

"If it is any comfort, it has gained my father and grandfathers permission and support with minimal resistance," Celesio added, trying to put a positive spin on this, aware that the GRD was to be kept secret, even if she had used it to get the blue inkling into this engagement, but he was going to give it this relationship a chance at least.

"But… just… why and how are you two marrying so soon? That's what I don't understand. Cambridge can't keep many secrets. If he was dating you for so long, I'd have definitely known," the turf official worker requested, wondering if she really had been oblivious to a blossoming relationship between them.

"We really cannot explain, but it was more of a sudden spontaneous proposal. And, well, the Amabile family is quite resourceful. I do hope that Cambridge is able to tolerate our traditions. I am making quite the effort myself to atone for the damage we've done to you Verlegens," Celesio apologized once more. She had already made amends for the most part with them all, aside from Zaffre, but the two did not have any specific enemyship between them, while the squid mother instead hated the pinchling's father.

"Tra-traditions?" Cambridge questioned, not knowing anything about this, but he was happier that she did not announce how she had chosen him mainly for genetics or any of that.

"Yes! When the next in the Amabile family line becomes married, they gain the ability to become the leader of it all, with the prior leader being demoted but still will be within high regard of command… and the significant other of the new leader has just as much power as the leader themselves," Celesio explained. Her family believed in having the purest of youth literally running things. The blue inkling and the spider crab would be the first pair to actually be together to run the Amabile family, since Crion and Zaiton had managed it alone.

"Wait. You're just using my son to get in a position of power, aren't you?" Zaffre glared, getting up, her over protective instincts kicking in as she approached. Cambridge felt himself shrinking a little. Celesio looked back up at her.

"No, not at all! Me and my grandfather are in great debt to you all for the atrocities caused by my father, Zaiton. The Amabile family is changing slowly, and when the day comes, that Cambridge and I are left to manage it. I promise, we will clean up any criminal activity from our family and put the wealth to use. Your son is unique, but his big heart is something that helps everyone… it's helping me a lot, too," Celesio spoke out with her utmost truthfulness. Zaffre panted, holding her head. She had no clue what to think or say. She had two options, to be a supportive mother and let her son take control of his life from here, or to take complete control and force by listening to her instincts.

"Alright…"

"Al-alright what?" Cambridge asked, his mother stretching while slipping back to her normal demeanor.

"Alright, Cambridge, honey… I've always listened to my instincts my entire life, and I use them every day at my job, but I'm going to ignore them right now, because this is your decision and… and because Sheen would have wanted the same thing. I know it by heart," the four young squids' mother chimed as she rubbed Celesio's head, the spider crab wondering why she was being pet, but more so why she was enjoying it.

"Welcome to the Verlegen family," Zaffre welcomed. She then headed down the hall, wanting to go to her room to rest her drained self.

"So should we celebrate?" Alizarin questioned as the atmosphere began to lighten. Cambridge felt a lot of relief to know that his family was okay with this engagement, even if his mother was fighting the most natural thing in her mind.

"Yeah! How about I call Callie and Marie to meet us all at Arowana Mall?" Rackley offered.

"Sure that'd be great!" Cambridge smiled, though just then he noticed Celesio's hand stroking his head, just how his mother would do it.

"Is petting some form of new method of welcoming now?" the spider crab wondered, having never really witnessed that kind of bonding or motion. Kreon came over and grabbed the pinchling by the arm, dragging her along as the group of five headed out.

"Don't worry about it," Alizarin reassured as the door shut behind them. The day was bright and beautiful with the sun hanging high in the empty sky, and with the idea that the Amabile family now was about to calm down. Cambridge felt a lot less stress now after all of that had been sorted out with the announcement, and now he was ready to party with his family.

"Hello, Crion. Sorry for the delay," Zaiton entered the warehouse, the sound of footsteps clacking against the hard floor, and there he saw Crion alone. All of the inklings that were working for the elderly coconut crab at the moment were out on a task. Crion was sitting at a table, playing a game of solitaire on his own. Zaiton was carrying two cups of tea, which they tended to drink under stress. The adult pinchling rested the tray on the table.

"The delay of us meeting, or the delay of us talking about the blue blood on your hands?" the coconut crab questioned while putting down another few cards. His annoyed son sat across from him.

"I did what I had to, Crion," Zaiton spoke, "We needed to get those coins that were stolen from us to…"

A loud and sudden hard fist hit the table, shaking everything on it and sending the cards flying everywhere.

"You murdered someone. You took their life," Crion bitterly spoke back, reaching down and taking a drink from his teacup, "Not only that, but you ruined more lives around them. Celesio may be getting married soon, but that doesn't change the severity of your crime…I should use my claw to crush your head right now, boy."

"Crion, my daughter is at a grand point in her life… just like me… she has selected her significant other. Whether she actually loves them or not, I don't care, as long as our race reproduces as much as they can… besides, you cannot prove that I killed a man, and even if you could, if you report me to authorities or try to hurt me, it'll come back to you in the end," Zaiton retorted smugly. Celesio being the first girl in the entire Amabile family line, the yeti crab had been more so wanting his daughter to be a mother to many for no other reason than to make sure their race did not become extinct, and instead get a great start.

"I'm not just talking about the man you killed… I'm talking about the woman you murdered long before that. The Balancing Mistress was her stage name, right?" the coconut crab chuckled, taking a drink from his tea cup. Zaiton's eyes widened from hearing this.

"…Crion, I don't know what you're talking about," he stammered.

"Oh, I believe you have a clean idea. When you reached the right age, you went to find your, quote on quote, 'significant other'. You went to the octarians homeland of Whelk City… in actuality, you were looking for the first poor woman you could sleep with, and once she had the egg, you drowned her in saltwater," Crion explained in deep detail while finishing his cup of tea, resting the cup down.

"Ho…how do you know this Crion?" Zaiton asked, shaken to the core.

"You murdered a woman who thought she loved you… At an entertainment club with some bribes. I knew everything within the hour…" Crion sneered staring intensely at his son, "While on subject… let me ask you this, son. How come you don't call me dad? You must hate me a lot to not address me as dad remotely like this. You never have, in your entire life."

"Yeah dad… you know you're right," Zaiton stood up with a grin, "I feel horrible for what I did… I killed three people that posed no threat to the Amabile family, and injured so much more. And I am feeling terrible because of it."

"Three?" Crion was confused, "Who was the third victim- grah!"

The elder suddenly gasped, his chest throbbing in immense pain like molten lava was running down his throat. He was gasping for breath losing oxygen. Zaiton went over to his father with a huge smile.

"I never called you dad, Crion… because I knew I'd have to kill you one day… though you don't have much time left to live right now, I appreciate you helping me raise Celesio. She would have been quite the pain… take care," Zaiton left the coconut crab standing with his hands on his own throat, panting and gasping. He fell flat on his back onto the floor. After a few more seconds, his chest stopped, and blue blood began to pour out of his mouth. Only now did he realize that the tea was poisoned by his son. The only thoughts running through the dying crab's head was his granddaughter. He had tears in his eyes, hoping the spider crab will be okay.

"It is time for the Amabile family to evolve."


	31. Celebration

The group of five had arrived to Arowana Mall. In the food court, they were waiting the Squid Sisters to arrive after Rackley had called them, doing his best not to go nuts and retell what he saw as an epic battle of the ages of a zord versus monster with the help of his family. Agent 3 was still very blissful about it that he could probably go a few years without being brought down easily.

"Which is why April 1st is a good time to test everyone's awareness of their surroundings," Celesio had finished talking about something which the Amabile family did for all those that worked for them, to test their awareness by pranking them. The spider crab found it fun herself, though personally she found herself not improved by it so far.

"Huh… pranks being used for something other than a quick laugh. I kind of like that," Cambridge smiled. The blue squid had been trying to talk with his fiancée and siblings. They all wanted to know more about each other to better understand if they could. He was actually finding the red skinned girl interesting, as with each word she spoke seemed to come another tale behind it.

"Heh… put me to work and I'll make sure everyone's aware," Alizarin grinned, loving the idea of setting up prank after prank for so many different inklings. So many fears or surprises to use. Kreon rubbed her head, unable to really agree with her siblings, being a prank hater instead.

"Sorry we're late!" they suddenly heard. They took one glance to see the Squid Sisters approaching in their disguised costumes, Marie going straight to her boyfriend and pulling him into a hug, having been worried about him since he left, but then she looked at the table to see Celesio. It was setting off alarms in the Squid Sisters' head since her tentacle had been painfully tortured by the pinchling at one point.

"What's going on?" Marie requested. As she and her cousin weren't here for the crazy stuff that had happened at the research facility, they assumed Agent 3 had been successful in stopping the earthquakes since they halted after the huge number of them that had struck yesterday.

"Oh, not much. We're just celebrating their engagement," Alizarin pointed to his brother and the spider crab beside him. Once again Cambridge began blushing a little, wondering how they could always be so relaxed.

"Engagement? Err… I mean congratulations!" Callie exclaimed once she processed that. She was not too caring for the Amabile family's only daughter, mostly for how she had hurt Marie.

"I swear, crazy things happen to you all, the second we're not around," Marie spoke. Her boyfriend chuckled, knowing she was not entirely wrong. Agent 3 tended to wind up in one odd position or another, but as long as he was with his family, he was more than happy. The Squid Sisters took their seats at the table.

"Welcome to my world," Kreon told Marie with a sigh, starting to believe there was no such thing as simple anymore. Lately it had been one uphill battle after another, but the dragon squid was glad to know that this relationship between the two families would soon be forged, and hopefully stop all the fighting simultaneously.

"Greetings, Squid Sisters… I apologize for the fight at the warehouse. I was just following an order," Celesio tried to apologize right away to the two cousins. Her difference in actions was quite weird to them.

"Uhh… don't worry about it?" Marie had no clue what to say to that, but she was not a type to hold a grudge, thus she accepted the apology.

"I really wish mom had come with us…" Cambridge muttered. Zaffre did give her agreement to allow them to be wed, but fighting her instincts had made her not want to do anything out of paranoia. The blue squid's brothers and sister agreed with that, but they did not allow it to taint what was meant to be a good time.

"Come on, Celesio, let's go shopping for a better set of clothes for you," Kreon insisted. Not that there was anything wrong with them, but they looked outdated.

"What? But my grandfather made me this clothing," Celesio quirked, wondering why she would need more clothes than she had. This was really the most the pinchling had gotten out in quite a bit of time, being a spoiled child raised under the Amabile family traditions like a princess, which also damaged her knowledge of how things worked normally.

"Clothes shopping? Sounds like you could use the freshest people in all of Inkopolis to help," Callie grinned. Marie sighed, not liking the thought of being volunteered without being asked first. The Squid Sisters and the spider crab got up.

"I'll see you later, my husband," Celesio bid Cambridge farewell before she headed off with the other girls like a bachelorette celebration going on, leaving Alizarin and Rackley to handle Cambridge.

"Why are you petting me?" Marie asked, feeling Celesio stroking her head like a dog. She was not sure how to feel about it either, she hated to admit it but mentally she was somewhat enjoying it.

"I believe this is a form of welcome," Celesio said, having seen Zaffre rubbing her son's head like this hours ago. Kreon was laughing loudly, loving the confusing actions of the spider crab.

"come on Cambridge," Alizarin said, Cambridge nodding getting up.

"Whe-where are we going?" their blue brother questioned. They decided they should go shopping for something as well for the celebration.

"Shopping, let's go," Agent 3 grabbed his younger brother's hand, leading him off happily with the red squid following beside them to check out Arowana Mall's stores, since it was going to be Cambridge's birthday tomorrow. Rackley did not mind getting him an early gift as well.

"This is new…" Cambridge said. The shop they were in now was Amiibo Plateau, which housed miniature versions of stages in the Battle Tower, the replicas were very detailed, that whoever made them had spent each minute with precision and care. Beside the various stages were tiny white blank figures on golden circles. There were two types of the blank bodies, a female and a male. Cambridge had no clue what these were for, but he was afraid to touch them.

"Welcome to the Amiibo Plateau. How can I aid you?" they heard. The three saw a young pink inkling only half their size standing there. She was close to their age, but they assumed she was just a small squid.

"Hey, well for starters, my brothers don't know what amiibo are. Can you fill them in?" Rackley requested. She nodded, seeming glad to do that. It was her job after all. She took one of the male blank amiibo figures, having the red tentacled squid's attention. Cambridge waited patiently, feeling a little embarrassed to have attention of any form.

"This is an amiibo! They're a good toy, but they also are great to use to help set up strategies or fun to make trophies here. Hold one and touch the button on the base," the shopkeeper handed the male blank amiibo figure to Cambridge.

"Um… alright," Cambridge pressed the button, watching the amiibo figure's blank tentacles begin to bend and change shape before beginning to strike a pose. In an instant, the amiibo changed to resemble Cambridge, his tentacles and even his clothes.

"That is awesome!" Alizarin exclaimed. Cambridge was surprised as well. Rackley laughed a little at their reactions.

"Yep! Now you have a personal custom trophy amiibo. For a little extra coins, we offer an animate version or an alternative posing model," she continued. Cambridge felt that the amiibo of himself gave off more of a confident pose and appearance than he himself did. They watched Agent 3 pull out his coin card.

"I'll buy that one for him… oh, and I want eight more pose version amiibo, five girl ones, and three boy ones," Rackley placed his order. The tiny squid's eyes gleamed as she took his coin card before going to gather the amiibo from the back. The blue squid questioned why his siblings were now staring at him.

"What?" Rackley quirked.

"What in the world could you possibly need with that many amiibo?" Cambridge asked, not able to come up with any uses for them.

"It's a surprise," Rackley claimed as the young squid came back with his coin card and a box full of the amiibo that he ordered. Agent 3 smiled, taking it and thanking her.

"Come on, let's check out the next store," Alizarin declared, ready to go check out more of Arowana Mall's offerings. Cambridge was already very content with his miniature doppelganger. He hoped they would not go blowing lots of money on him for no reason. He would feel horrible to have received too many expensive gifts, whatever they were celebrating.

"Why can't I keep my current shoes? They're perfectly fine," Celesio complained, sitting on a bench at a shoe store with a pouty expression. The dragon squid held up a pair of red shoes that were practically falling apart, only being held together by duct tape, glue, and luck.

"I'm sure they were great. but if you wore this to a turf war you'd be slipping all over ink," Kreon claimed. She had her salmon slingshot on her person right now in her back pocket. She tossed the worn out shoes into a nearby waste bin. After a lot of use, those worn-out shoes needed to retire.

"Why should I care about footwear when everyone only cares about your body and faces appearance?" the pinchling questioned. The Squid Sisters looked to each other with a shrug. They had only one real answer to that.

"Because feeling fresh is more important than being fresh," Callie explained, though one glance at the pinchling girl's feet showed that she had been going around a lot with little rest. Her feet were damaged with a lot of cuts and bruises on them. They were red and swollen slightly as well.

"I don't know. I like being fresh. It isn't that hard anyway," Marie retorted, gaining a glare from her cousin who had been trying to just be friendly with the pinchling. Kreon sighed, as so far those two were looking to be on the verge of a volatile fight, which was never a good thing as close and as great in sync as the Squid Sisters were.

"I don't like shoe shopping either, but we get to the good stuff after the more reliable stuff. If your shoes are better you can do more in a fight. Why do you think I beat you in that battle?" the scarred dragon squid pointed to her own shoes which were a pair of bulky boots which looked extremely durable but somewhat heavy, yet good for exercising.

"Upon my recollection, I remember that was a stalemate," Celesio spoke through a forced smile, her eyes angrily staring into the dragon inkling's, both forcing fake grins. They both decided to halt on the argument for now, just when the pinchling heard her cellphone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket.

"Celesio Amabile," she answered, Marie bringing over a pair of rainbow colored shoes that seemed the appropriate size for the dragon squid, she and Callie slipping them on quickly before fastening the Velcro straps.

"Looking good," the Squid Sisters said. Just then, they got startled by an unrelated reaction.

"Grandpa is what?! No… no, this can't be!" Celesio got up and ran off. The store's alarm went off after she ran through the scanners with the unpaid product. One of the workers looked to the confused other three.

"Uh… we'll pay for those, don't worry."


	32. Crime scene

"What do you mean she ran off?" Cambridge and his brothers had met back up with the Squid Sisters and their own sister once they had texted them to come back. Rackley held a box full of gifts, mostly for his younger brother, that he insisted he purchase, despite the soon to be fifteen-year-old's protest.

"I dunno. She said something about her grandpa," Kreon shrugged. Everything happened so fast and within seconds that she had barely processed anything. The Squid Sisters did cover the shoe cost, which was cheap as a candy bar for them.

"She sounded scared and upset…" Callie said. Cambridge now felt worried. He had seen Crion earlier this morning, so he wondered what could be happening to be upsetting his fiancée, though the blue squid wondered if the elder pinchling had some medical problems. He planned on finding out soon.

"Yeah. She may be a spoiled brat, but she is the one you're marrying, so I'm sure you've seen something deep in her that we haven't," Marie added, having seen the spider crab be kind and genuinely look regretful for her and her family's actions, but she could not get a good read on the pinchling. She came off as having a very sheltered upbringing while being waited on simultaneously hand and foot, only being allowed out more recently.

"I'll go see what's going on. While I do, you all go get your weapons just in case," Cambridge stated the immediate plan in mind. He already had his custom inkbrush dangling off his side with the new custom special move given to him by Crion as a gift. His siblings and their friends agreed that the plan sounded good. The blue inkling may have been forced into this engagement, but he really wanted to make it work. His heart was the main driver, and in the right place.

"Cambridge, be careful, okay?" Alizarin requested.

"I always am," Cambridge nodded and tried to lighten the mood, his bad joke not getting any response beyond an awkward cough. Kreon patted his back to tell him he at least tried before she began to leave with everyone else to get their equipment.

"We'll tell mom about what's going on," Rackley told his younger brother, the two blue squids hugging before splitting off. Cambridge hoped his mother would not be upset with him, but the blue inkling shook his thoughts off. His girlfriend from lack of choice needed him right now. He hurried off, wanting to get to Jellyfish Harbor as fast as his short legs could carry him. Something was wrong, and for some reason that was very unnerving to him.

After a long run with only two stops to catch his breath, Cambridge entered Jellyfish Harbor, and there he witnessed various police vehicles and ambulances here. He could even see the harbor owner David looking from the upper floor of his building. The young blue squid rushed over to the warehouses where the cops appeared to be guarding the entrance to.

"Sorry squiddie, we can't allow anyone into the warehouse area," one officer apologized, though the cop had the appearance of relief that it was just a teenager bothering him. The officer's businesses had interrupted several others' day, having prevented them from retrieving their items from the storage areas.

"Huh. Talk about perfect timing," the young blue squid heard the voice of Granite, and looked over to his left.

"Let'em through boys. He's actually someone I gotta question," Granite explained. He had returned to the scene, appearing to have taken a small trip somewhere before returning. The cops obeyed their orders, allowing Cambridge to go inside to the storage warehouse area alongside the detective.

"What happened, detective?" Cambridge wondered if they had seen Celesio anywhere, but so far he was not seeing the spider crab in any of the remote area.

"Well, that old crab… what was his name? Crion, that's right. He was some big criminal hot shot, but he was great at cleaning his tracks. We never could get anything on him. We got a call a bit ago that he's dead," Granite described. Cambridge was stunned that someone he had seen just this morning had talked to and been congratulated from, was no more. They arrived to the familiar warehouse where the teenager could see several of the squid goons that had worked for the Amabile family being talked to by other cops, as they had discovered the body. There were a lot of officers inside the warehouse checking everything out.

"Celesio!" Cambridge called upon seeing her sitting on the floor, crying next to a white blanket covering Crion's entire body. The blue squid ran over to the spider crab. As he got close to her, she wrapped her arms around him so tightly, that he swore he heard his spine cracking.

"Oh, Cambridge! It's terrible! Grandpa… he's dead…!" Celesio spoke through her choked sobs.

"You two know each other, huh? Small world…" Granite approached the two, feeling sorry for the granddaughter to the elder crab. They were waiting for the crime scene to be fully analyzed before they would let the body get taken away in case they missed something.

"De-detective, this is my fiancée… We were celebrating… before this happened," Cambridge explained. It was terrifying, but the blue squid was doing his best to try and be calm and reassuring, the one thing he normally never had to do but Celesio was in horrible mental status because of this.

"Well, congratulations on the marriage. I already told her this, but the cause of death was far from natural. We suspect it to be poisoning," Granite declared.

"Wha-what about daddy? Is he okay?!" Celesio sobbed, terrified at the thought of losing all of her family, the threat to her entire species being the last thing on her mind. Cambridge did not know what to do, though the mention of her father made something come to mind.

"Celesio… what if…?" Cambridge tried to speak, but was not able to get his voice or courage up to suggest it to her that Zaiton might be the actual killer. Once more, the blue squid felt more uncomfortable for giving the genetic modification machine over to the pinchling.

"…please leave me alone for a moment…" Celesio requested while releasing her embrace from Cambridge. Her fiancée nodded, following the detective away to another part of the warehouse.

"Detective Granite, have you guys found any weird laser pointers?" the blue squid questioned. That was really the only physical description he could give about the machine. He watched the detective pull out a bottle of milk and drink it. Once done, he put the cap back on and returned it to his coat.

"We've found a lot of weird things here, but no laser pointers. Apparently Crion was an expert weapon maker. He made scrap into saltwater based weaponry… kind of scary to imagine someone with that knowledge," Granite admitted. It was impressive, but still intimidating to anyone who joined the Amabile family. The goons had some small skill of their own, but clearly the three pinchlings were the most knowledgeable.

"Uh oh… where could Zaiton have gone?" Cambridge wondered aloud, the detective by now being on the same page of whom he assumed was the culprit.

"Detective! We found something!" another officer called out. Granite raised an eyebrow. He allowed Cambridge to come with him to check it out. They wound up going into another room of the warehouse that had been hidden by a few boxes on a storage shelf that were covering the doors up. The place was ominous and dark, the lights that were on flickering.

"What's in there?" Cambridge questioned. The officer shook his head with no clue, having alerted the detective immediately upon finding the secret door to a top secret room, though it did look quite big. The three stepped inside, but then they could hear a young moaning voice from somebody who might just be trapped there.

"Hey you! Go get the medics!" Granite demanded to his officer. He nodded darting out the door instantly. If someone had been trapped in here for an unknown length of time, they did not want to risk them not getting medical aid if they needed it.

"Help…" the same weak voice coughed. Cambridge went left to search that way, the detective heading right, having planned that they will alert one another immediately when one of them found the source of the weak toned voice.

"I've got a bad feeling..."


	33. Modified

Cambridge searched one part of the hidden section of the storage warehouse after splitting up with detective Granite. They had kept their ears wide open in hopes that the weak voice would call to them again, but so far it was dead silence which was far from reassuring. There was already someone dead in this warehouse, and finding a second was unwanted. Cambridge's mind was panicked at the moment. Finally, he arrived to a dead end of this maze.

"He-hey! Are you okay?" Cambridge called out, seeing someone lying in the corner. He pulled out his cellphone, turning on its flashlight function and aiming it in the direction. A purple inkling a few years older than him lay there, his tentacles dangling loosely like. He had been brutalized within an inch of his life. The blue inkling crouched down.

"Please… make me normal again…" the weak squid whispered. Cambridge didn't understand until he looked down, his eyes widening as his flashlight revealed the left hand of the purple inkling, or rather the left pincer. The genetic change had reached all the way to his elbow, and even his left leg.

"What happened?!" the young Verlegen, asked trying to keep the injured squid conscious, unsure what was going on here, but he had a bad feeling that he knew the cause.

"I… I saw the boss get murdered. I tried to stop Zaiton… he be-beat me up and then used some tool on me…" the purple inkling explained to the best of his ability. Cambridge lay him on his back to try and help get him off his injuries since most of them seemed to be on his side, and lying against the corner of a wall was doing nothing to help.

"I'm sorry… If there's a way, I'll make sure you get back to normal," Cambridge swore, trying to give the mutated squid some hope. The blue squid took a few pictures of the different limb, just as Granite and a few paramedics approached.

"I heard you scream. What's going on- whoa…" Granite gulped at witnessing this. He did not want to get in the paramedics' way, the two squids stepping aside as the emergency medical team began to work on the mutated inkling. They seemed to think his different limb was the least of their worries at the moment.

"Granite, I've got to go," Cambridge bid the detective farewell.

"Alright… take it easy," Granite nodded, letting him go. The blue squid left the secret area of the warehouse. He returned to the main storage area and found Celesio standing in the same place, but now the body was gone. The crime scene was finished being investigated, and they cleared the body out to take for autopsy.

"Are you okay?" Cambridge approached his fiancée. The spider crab sniffled, shaking her head. She was far from fine, but a lot better than a little ago. Many of the cops were also clearing out now that they had finished documenting everything. The blue squid wrapped an arm around her with a nervous blush, trying to comfort her.

"I don't know what to do, Cambridge," Celesio rested her head on his shoulder. The thought of what was left of her family being no longer alive shook her to her core. The blue inkling felt bad for what he was about to say since it was both good news and bad news. Lately he had been forced into these uncomfortable situations to him. He wondered if this was what regular marriage would be like. He really wished his father had left him more advice now.

"Your dad is al-alive, Celesio…" Cambridge started. Her father being the primary suspect of this murder was already a lot for her to take in. He hoped knowing he was alive would be some comfort to her. He doubted being told that she was the last of her own race would be devastating to take in.

"Really? Did they find him!?" Celesio instantly questioned, looking ready to dart off in the direction she was pointed to her father, but the blue squid shook his head informing her that they had no clue where he was at the moment.

"No… but uh… well, I-I think your dad is turning squids into crabs…" Cambridge stated his concern. His fiancée looked at him confusedly. He did not blame her. If someone had told him that without witnessing it himself, he wouldn't believe it either.

"That's just preposterous!" Celesio replied with a questionable look. The blue squid pointed to the hidden room where they could see the pincer-clad squid being taken away on a stretcher by paramedics now that he was stable. Detective Granite exited the room shortly after, looking more puzzled than they did. This seemed to be enough proof to Cambridge's fiancée.

"That device we gave him that was in the facility in Octo Valley… I think he is using it to change inklings into… well, pinchlings," Cambridge continued as calmly as he could. Celesio looked at her fiancé before tilting her head. It was the hardest thing to believe for her so far, but lately everything had been crazy for both families, but now there was one bigger task at hand for everyone involved.

"Oh no… this is all my fault! I gave daddy it!" Celesio cried upon realizing this, her mind being bent in two nearly when she questioned if she was really a pinchling herself, or just a squid turned into a crab. She recalled how shortly after she had decided Cambridge to be her husband, she had given the genetic modification machine to her father, claiming her fiancé had gotten it for the Amabile family as a gift. She never imagined that an old gadget would be so important.

"He-hey, don't worry about it, honey… lo-look, we just go-gotta find your dad right now. We should group with the others and find him immediately," insisted Cambridge. This was enough to get her to calm down, luckily, though trying to use the word honey made him sound so nervous.

"Alright… I understand… there should be a map of the city somewhere around let us take it I can point out the other hideouts there," Celesio sniffed, walking off to find the map. Cambridge followed to help her find it, imagining it as quite big in size considering how large Inkopolis was. He was glad to know that the pinchling was going to trust him with the information of all the Amabile family hideouts.

It only took two hours for everyone else to arrive. By then, police were long gone and anyone of Crion's former workers were giving their condolences before retrieving their items and leaving to find either a new career line or life path. Cambridge explained everything to them all, and it surprisingly did not take much convincing. The three agents had clearly seen tons of surprises of machines invented by octarians before, and this was just another one of the dozen.

"Mom is right. You are a magnet for weird things and weird people," Kreon spoke. Cambridge couldn't disagree with that, but he saw it as a perk. If it wasn't for that luck of this, he would never have met his adoptive sister or brother, or any one of them.

"Callie, Marie and Rackley… I'm sorry. I know I should've told you all about the genetic modification machine when we read about it, but it got out of my hands so fast," Cambridge apologized to his brother. He still was leaving the GRD out of his vocabulary for the time being. He was not going to speak about it until he made a real decision.

"Considering you helped save Inkopolis, I think we can cut you some slack," Callie joked, trying to reassure it was alright.

"Yeah. We just feel bad for not being able to help then," Marie and her cousin felt bad for not going with Agent 3 to help, but they were thankful his family had aided them. Cambridge looked to his brother who seemed carefree about the matter.

"Again, I've got to live my dream down there besides I could never be mad at you over something so small," Rackley stated. His younger brother seemed relieved to know this, though Celesio had confessed to being the true one to turn it over, and her fiancé had taken the blame for it.

"So wait, this machine can make more of any race… it's that simple? I kind of want to get my hands on this," Alizarin added with a grin, looking to the dragon inkling whom he still supported the decision of her looking cuter if she had a tail.

"Can we please focus on the matter at hand? We can worry about what to do with said device once we retrieve it," Celesio requested them all to focus again, the calm talk ending before the spider crab pointed to the map on the wall that had three circles on it.

"These are the other Amabile family locations. One of these places is where my father Zaiton would most likely reside… Cambridge and I are going to explore the abandoned mall," Celesio pointed to the closest of the circles when the mall was going to be demolished until the Amabile family stepped up and purchased it, but kept it closed tight to use as a personal and considerably cheap base of sorts.

"Me and the Squid Sisters can handle this one," Rackley gladly pointed to the circle that was more on the far right. His girlfriend and her cousin gladly agreed to accompany him. They all were prepared with the best of their weaponry.

"That's the Copper Facility, the main source of the Amabile family's profits. We buy for cheap and sell for high," Celesio smiled, glad that no one was reluctant to help at the moment. They needed all the aid they could get after all, but they all did expect there to be some form of resistance.

"Please tell me I don't have to go with Alizarin to the bottom one…" Kreon murmured. The closest of the other Amabile family hideouts was to the lower right of the map, which was an antique shop.

"I'm afraid you'll have to," Cambridge slowly nodded.

"Sweet…" Kreon hung her head in annoyance.

"Sweet! We'll handle it," Alizarin declared. They all knew to call one another when they found anything that could be a clue to Zaiton being in one of the areas.

"Before we leave, I must warn you all that my father is a revered leader of the family for a reason… a lot respect him, so expect a lot of resistance and be on your guard," Celesio warned them all. The group understood, having presumed that anyway.

"And ple-please be careful," Cambridge told them. With everything settled and agreed upon, they all began to leave the warehouse to scatter across the city to these three locations. It was terrifying to imagine what Zaiton was doing with the machine. If he had only used that poor purple squid Cambridge had found as a test dummy, he hated to see its full effect.

"Please be careful, everyone…"


	34. Reunion

Callie, Marie and Rackley arrived at the Copper Facility and had waltzed right inside. It was a scrap yard, junk lying everywhere. A few squids dwelt inside, trying to sell copper to get value out of their items. The scrap facility was surrounded by a tall barbwire fence, as if to make sure no one could come in or go out when the entrance gate closed at night, most likely due to a past of thieves that the Amabile family had dealt with from time to time.

"So… how do we go about looking for Zaiton?" Agent 3 asked his girlfriend and her cousin upon arrival. The blue squid's natural thought was to inquire with the workers, but in retrospective that might be a poorer idea. Unfortunately, it might be their only choice if they did not want to go full hostile assault from the get go.

"This place looks normal. Maybe we can sneak into the main processing facility," Callie suggested. The only building in the scrap yard was a very big processing plant which ran the copper through a factory line, with workers going over it to make sure no other materials got left on the copper or non-copper objects being on the line, such as trash that often blew over the fence.

"Fine, but if something seems off, we start splatting squids," Marie stated. Her boyfriend nodded happily, her cousin giving a thumbs up. The three began to head around the right side of the facility, making their way toward the emergency exit which at the moment was blocked by a dumpster on wheels.

"Wow… they're lucky there hasn't been a fire," Rackley claimed. One fire exit and the front exit being blocked off would result in a lot of workers trying to go for the emergency exit, not knowing how it was being blocked from opening now by someone being careless for some sick reason. The trio of agents all began to push it out of the way. The dumpster was easy to get moved aside. Once the exit was clear, they pushed the door open, stepping inside. There greeted just a long hallway at this part with a few boxes lying around.

"I guess no one here has taken a fire safety course…" Marie sighed, holding her head upon realizing that the Emergency Exit sign now had been covered up by a Do Not Leave through this door sign. The boxes here looked to be trash bins filled with flammable material.

"Hey, it's like Mike was here," Callie smirked, referring to their second cameraman from their studio. Rackley liked that cameraman a lot and had even aided on his show a little, though he tended to leave a mess wherever he went. The trio continued inside, looking around. They passed by a few small rooms with nothing important in any of them so far. They finally arrived to the main part of the Copper Processing Factory. Numbers of squids their age were working hard. The various bronze color material were being sent down each of the four lines. There was a second floor where there were suspended platforms being held up with a lot of supports, that was more for accessing the ventilation and air conditioning.

"Excuse me you can't be here," they heard from behind them which startled Callie. They turned around to see an orange tentacled squid in a construction helmet with a very bored expression. He had followed them after he saw the three agents walk past the staff break room. Agent 3 decided it was time for Plan B.

"Uh, hey there. Is Zaiton here?" Rackley asked. Everything went quiet, all eyes in the room focused on the three of them. The orange squid was giving a menacing glare.

"Rackley, I love you, but you really need to know when to skip Plan B and go to Plan C," Marie groaned. Weapons were being aimed for them now.

"Watch out!" Callie pulled her roller off her back. The person who had stopped them was aiming a splattershot for them. She smacked him overhead with her roller, splattering him into a puddle of pink ink. The three all took cover as a rainbow rain of ink began firing down, splashing around them, Rackley preparing himself.

"Guess them attacking us is a good thing," the blue inkling grinned. It meant they were on edge and hostile to protect Zaiton, so it might be an indicator of his presence being around, but before they could make any effort at searching, they would have to splatter several workers that obeyed him and the Amabile family. The ink continued flying, the three agents coming out from hiding ready to fight back.

"…so… is this an antique shop or a museum?" Alizarin had just arrived with Kreon to the antique shop owned by the Amabile family. Very ancient items were set up inside that belonged to the older race, humans, before they went extinct because of the world flooding. Only one very old squid lived here that was sitting happily behind the counter on the side. Alizarin looked at one of the more nearby display cases which housed a huge tooth that looked to belong to a dinosaur. The teenage squid found it fascinating how so much had existed before that was now long gone.

"This is an antique fossil collector's shop… though before we are allowed to put them up for sale, we are required to have a museum, examine it and give their permission," the elder spoke. The dragon squid at least respected that. For being part of the Amabile family, she anticipated everything in here to be stolen to begin with.

"Uh… you wouldn't happen to know if Zaiton is here do you?" Kreon stepped up to the counter. The elder scratching his chin.

"Who?" the dragon inkling quirked an eyebrow with a straight face.

"Zaiton… y'know, the boss of the Amabile family," she tried to be more specific, wondering if this old man was playing dumb or really had no clue about who the yeti crab was.

"Sorry lass, but I have never heard of him… maybe my assistant knows. Let me get him in here," the old antique shop owner hummed, reaching under the counter pulling out a shiny bell the type that would be at a hotel to request service. He tapped the top of it three times, and after the rings rung out, they heard someone coming from the back room.

"What is it?" a familiar voice spoke. There was Jelek the jellyfish with his left arm in a cast.

"Hey, isn't that your old friend?" Alizarin asked. Kreon and Jelek were staring at each other, their minds processing their sudden meeting.

"Jelek…! You… son of a belemnite!"

"Kreon, wait, I can explain-!" Jelek squeaked, just as the dragon squid lunged over the counter and tackled the jellyfish into the floor as they rolled into the backroom. Alizarin looked at the elder, wondering if he was mad that his assistant was being assaulted.

"Ah, you young'uns… I used to wrestle when I was younger too, y'know… sadly I'm just not flexible anymore. Why, I even invented the tentacle twister before my nemesis…" the elder began to ramble on, giving a long story to Alizarin. He held his head, wondering how he even wound up in this position. He would rather take more of his sister's fists during their fights than listen to this elder like this.

"Ow-ow! Stop! Pl-please, Kreon! I'm still recovering from the wounds that old crab gave me!" Jelek cried before being punched in the face again. Kreon was more than glad to release her pent up against her traitorous comrade. By then she would be happy for her brother's birthday tomorrow without any stress. She had wanted to do this to her former friend for a long time.

"Spineless wimp! You stole my coins and spread lies about me that cost me my rank! And you turned every one of my friends that I had against me!" Kreon shouted between punches before she wrapped her left tentacle around his cast, beginning to squeeze hard. He cried in pain, feeling shock waves of agony shooting through him from it.

"I-I'm sorry! Please stop!" Jelek whined. Calling for help would do nothing. She loosened her grip with her tentacle, still sitting on top of him while he was pinned down.

"Tell me why," she spoke.

"Wh-why what?" he weakly responded.

"Why you did all that? As much as I've enjoyed hitting you, I'd not be able to go far without wanting to know why you did all of this," Kreon glared at him menacingly.

"Th-the Amabile family. Some white carb came to-to me saying they wanted you in their group. I-I told the others secretly there was a coin fee and everything… bu-but they went way overboard with it and I was left to handle giving it over. We were all going to join an-and bring you too, Kreon. They went and did all this when I tried to stop them…" Jelek explained but unfortunately trusting tons of random squids behind their group leader's back they all took it way out of hand and inevitably threw her under the bus. Kreon had more anger building up in her.

"So why did you do it? Why would you think I'd want to join those jerks without me knowing?" Kreon questioned. Jelek inhaled a little.

"The guys… they took notice of your S+ rank and money, and wanted to take the money so they could bring you in when you were powerless. They caught and tortured me, because… well, they thought I set it up so the deal could quickly be messed up," Jelek did his best to explain. Kreon listened in disgust, knowing that losing the rank instantly took any hope of that away, and in the brief time the coins had been taken, the jellyfish got kidnapped and tortured since they believed he had set it up with Cambridge and Alizarin to steal the money and mess the deal up on purpose.

"Th-there is one more reason that I did this, Kreon…" he then claimed. She sighed, rolling her eyes, not wanting to know his excuse.

"What then?"

"Because I-I love you! I've been mad about you since we-we first met two years ago!" Jelek exclaimed. Silence fell for a moment, until Kreon exhaled, reaching down and grabbing the poor assaulted jellyfish's head she put her forehead against his. The dragon squid had a devious smirk on her face as he stared at her scarred face.

"My life has changed a lot for the better, Jelek… because you changed it with those other idiots of ours… so let me give you a little thank you gift. Close your eyes," Kreon requested. Jelek shut his eyelids tight. The dragon squid leaning back, and then swung her head forward, butting skulls with the jellyfish's head. He fell unconscious on the floor. The scarred dragon inkling stood up and stretched.

"Be glad you're not dead," Kreon began to make her way out of the back room, leaving the unconscious jellyfish flat on his back with his head bleeding somewhat with a lot more bruises on his body.

"Sorry for making you wait," the green inkling hummed while coming out of the back room, hopping back over the counter, rubbing her head. It hurt a little, but she had headbutted lots of people before.

"Was Zaiton here?" Alizarin requested. The old man behind the counter had fallen asleep midway through his many ramblings. The red squid was nearly driven insane by them.

"Nope, sorry," Kreon shook her head, "I guess since he isn't here. We should go check up on Rackley and the Squid Sisters."

She decided she now hadn't a care about this shop. And since the three agents were the closest nearby, they decided to go help them instead. They both headed off, Alizarin glad she was a lot more cheered up now.

"Let's hope Cambridge and Celesio are doing alright on their own."


	35. Reassurance

Cambridge had walked with Celesio to the part of Inkopolis. They had decided to search for Zaiton which was a more run down part of the city which had been in financial difficulties for quite some time. The abandoned mall was nearby. The parking lot was majorly damaged, and the building even seemed like it was rotting, that even the paint was nearly gone.

"Cambridge… what would you do if I turn out to be an octopus instead of a crab?" Celesio questioned her fiancé. The blue squid had his custom inkbrush dangling on his side, while his fiancée had her saltwater filled mopbrush on her back. The two had been talking about their future along the way, and what will happen after all this is cleared up. Cambridge had sent a text message to his mother and Detective Granite, informing them of where they were going to investigate to try and find Zaiton in hopes of receiving backup eventually.

"I would do nothing. Wh-what's the big deal?" Cambridge nervously responded. He once again pondered if this was what marriage was like. He needed to inquire with his mother sometime for helpful advice, since he was constantly afraid of saying the wrong thing. At the moment, the pinchling was having a large identity crisis.

"What's the big deal? My entire life could be a lie! I thought I was the proud third member to the Amabile family, the newest race in the world… but knowing what had happened… what if I was just some squid or octopus, genetically messed with when I was just a hatchling?" Celesio explained her plight as the two reached the multi-story car park which was in no better condition than the outside, but this was the only way inside according to her. Her fiancé decided to try and be more forward in this conversation to comfort her by calming her mind.

"Celesio, yo-you have lost a lot. We're Verlegens, you know… O-our family makes bonds together from shattered fragments, which makes bonds stronger than ever. If my dad were here, he-he would say that no one should care about what is outside… but what is inside," Cambridge did his best to sound more confident in his argument, and partially failing. The girl with the two non-matching eye colors and the scar on her face halted in her tracks in the multiple floor parking lot his words seemed to ring in her mind for a moment.

"What is inside? So… whether I'm an octopus a squid or a crab… you'd see me the same no matter what?" Celesio quirked, her soon to be husband nodded as he walked up to her if he had reassured her so far than he was more than glad to do whatever it took to keep her happy and calm.

"Well why wouldn't I? We're going to be married, right? Dad and mom would be ashamed of me if I only cared about looks instead of their heart and feelings," Cambridge nodded his head. No matter what, he was not going to give up on the relationship over something so trivial. Whatever occurred was fate. The blue squid could imagine Sheen giving some long lecture about how appearances are the last thing that matter, in fact he actually thought there was a tape that had that exact label with the others. Suddenly the teenage squid got pulled into a hug and kissed by the pinchling, who was very happy to have him around.

"Wh-when we capture daddy, I'll only ha-have you left…" Celesio sniffled, hugging him tight. He put an arm around her before the two continued down the route.

"No, Celesio, you'll have all of us. We'll make sure everything is alright," Cambridge reassured as they arrived to a door that was somewhat hidden behind a few support beams they had to walk around. they broke the embrace while the blue inkling tried to open the door. It was locked and for quite some time, that even the doorknob was rusted.

"Thank you, Cambridge," Celesio thanked him with a slight bow, before approaching the door. Before he could ask if she had a key, the spider crab changed her left arm into its pincer form and grabbed the knob, breaking it off the door. She then stabbed the remains of it, knocking it out into the other side with a loud clattering.

"We're in," she said, her hand turning back to normal. Cambridge had to remind himself how scary pinchlings claws were. They made their way inside the doorway, leading to one long hallway that would take them into the abandoned mall. It was one of the only entrances, but neither of them really knew what to expect in there since Celesio had only come here a few times, and never for long.

"I advise being cautious," the scarred spider crab said as they stepped into the back of a store, where they had entered through the emergency exit to. The only thing in this store was shattered glass and naked mannequins lying around.

"Why? Are there are lot of squids here?" Cambridge asked as they carefully stepped out over through the broken window since the entrance to the closed store was locked by the closed shutter. His fiancée shrugged, unsure of the numbers of people here today.

"No, but this place is in very poor condition. Lack of upkeep and maintenance has made it prone to falling apart," Celesio explained. An example was very nearby for them to see. One of the second floor walkways, which led from one half of the mall to another, had fallen down, and the rubble was lying on the broken floor.

"O-oh… we'll be fi-fine I'm sure," Cambridge responded timidly. He was worried that if they got into a fight, he only had his inkbrush to fend them both with. He had no clue about the special ability Crion had given him to install into it. He had never tested it, but he hoped it would be useful if they got into a tight spot. The two continued into the mall to begin searching.

Tension rose inside the Copper Facility. The three agents were all scattered apart after they had been forced to split up to shield themselves from a rain of ink bombs. Rackley hid behind one of the conveyer belts when an inkling suddenly jumped out from around the corner with a rapid blaster, opening fire.

"Whoa!" Agent 3 threw himself on the ground and dodged the pink ink, watching it hit the wall behind him. Before the inkling could aim the rapid blaster at him, he got splattered by a shot of green ink from a charger.

"Thanks, Marie!" Rackley called out to Marie who had gotten on the upper railway, and taken the high ground.

"You won't get splattered easily, I promise," Marie grinned, nodding. Four more enemy squids got squished under Callie's roller, with nothing left of them beyond pink ink.

"The new guys are finally here!" they suddenly heard. Marie saw a grey tentacle squid step onto the upper railing, who looked to have a multi hexagonal pattern to him, but a lack of any weapons.

"Heh… easy," Marie aimed her charger for the grinning grey squid. She squeezed the trigger and charged it until it was full, letting go and releasing a long blast of green ink which went flying down the upper platform. The squid put his tentacles together in front of him, taking the hit directly. The green goo slid off his tentacles to the floor.

"What the-?!" Marie growled. Her custom E-liter 3k was supposed to instantly splatter someone with a direct fully charged hit. She watched him attach his large tentacles to the back of his hands. She was a little bit intimidated as he began to approach. She kept firing, but each blast of green ink got blocked by his big, sturdy tentacles.

"Nice try," he said, having gotten close the Squid Sister as she ran out of ink. He grabbed, her pressing her against the railing, Marie trying to block with her charger.

"What kind of inkling are you?!"

"I'm Aron… the shield squid," Aron chuckled. Marie, now in this position, did the only thing she could think of, not caring what special ability this guy possessed. She broke his press on her and grabbed his shoulder and forearm. She threw him over shoulder off the railing, the grey squid's scream echoing as he fell onto the copper filled conveyer.

"Ow…! Darn you…!" Aron groaned, until he noticed a luna blaster in front of his face.

"We can't have you here at the moment," Rackley fired a blue sphere of ink, hitting the unguarded shield squid in the face and splattering him.

"Ahh!" Callie cried, being blasted back by plentiful of pink ink. Rackley ran over to her to see what had caused it, and noticed a weird yellow squid that had two small sized but long tentacles that looked oddly stretchable.

"You shouldn't attack my friends… ever!" Rackley aimed his luna blaster, hitting the button on the side of it and watching it change into an inkzooka, aiming it right for the squid who attacked Callie.

"Rackley, don't!" Callie tried to stop him, but by then, he had fired a huge twister of blue ink from the inkzooka. The yellow squid chuckled, aiming his tentacles forward. When the inknado hit, Rackley's eyes widened. In seconds the huge blue ink had vanished. The yellow squid's tentacles looked swollen and engorged. Agent 3 was stunned by this strange inkling.

"You need to move now!" Callie tried to snap the squid ranger back to reality as the yellow squid fired two huge powerful blasts of ink in retaliation, like he had absorbed it all like he did to Callie's ink. Rackley closed his eyes, with no time to react, expecting them to get splattered.

"Bubbler!"

Rackley opened his eyes. A protective barrier surrounded him and Callie. The blue ink hit and did nothing. Nearby, he saw Alizarin with his tri slosher and that same big grin on his face.

"Just in time glad there actually is some action here," Alizarin hummed. He was bored of doing nothing. The yellow squid looked irritated at the sudden interruption.

"Splatter scatter!" Kreon's voice rung out. She laughed, aiming her salmon slingshot. The yellow squid turned around to see the ball of green ink flying toward him. He thought he could absorb it easily when suddenly it became an explosion of green ink balls. This was her slingshot's special ability. The yellow squid was pelted repeatedly until he became splattered into a puddle of green ink.

"That looks like the last of them," Marie called out while climbing down a nearby ladder, running over and helping Callie up. Things were quiet now, and it looked like they had splattered everyone in the Copper Facility, including those two strange squids.

"Really?! Aw, man…" Alizarin sighed, wishing to have been able to do more, but he was glad they had made it in time to save them from splattering.

"What was up with those squids?" Marie questioned them all. Zaiton was nowhere to be seen, and even if he was here, he would be long gone by now by the time things had gotten rough.

"What squids?" Kreon tilted her head. As far as she saw, she had just splattered a regular inkling, having missed the part where he had absorbed an inkzooka blast like a sponge and sent it right back.

"They were… well… like you Kreon. They were special squids," Rackley simply stated.

"Wha…?! You're telling us… the Amabile family had special squids working for them?" Kreon wondered, annoyed, letting the three agents regain their breath and energy. She presumed that Zaiton had just reserved the special rare squid types for only stressful situations or when things got desperate. However, Callie had another thought.

"Do you think Zaiton's making these squids this way now just to have an advantage?" Callie suggested. All of them looked at her. As if things weren't pressured and concerning enough, the yeti crab was not only making other squids into pinchlings, but making special inkling types to have stronger offense or defense.

"If he is, we just gotta be more careful and smarter… come on. We're just wasting time here at this point. Let's go regroup with Cambridge and Celesio," Rackley claimed. No one argued now that they had their energy back. They refilled their ink tanks quickly before heading out of the ink coated Copper Facility.

"This Zaiton guy is nuts…"


	36. Kidnapped

Cambridge and Celesio found themselves in a more back part of the mall, having decided that searching the southern part of the damaged mall was a good place to start. They passed by an area made for guests, where a heavily cracked water fountain lay in the center filled with fish. The long dirt pots were meant to hold foliage. The place itself was overgrowing with nature now.

"I'm surprised someone has actually cared to put the plants and fish here," Celesio commented, imagining that the plants being so small would not survive as easily in most of Inkopolis. The fish were nothing special on the contrary, but random medium sized fish. She could even see a goldfish or two in the fountain turned fish tank.

"It might've been someone's hobby or their job…" Cambridge suggested that they find her father first and nothing else, though the blue squid wondered why he had no cellphone reception or where his mother and Detective Granite were. Surely they would have been here by now to help.

"Looks like we have guests," they heard, looking to the top of the nearby stairs, one of many sets leading to the second floor. There were several random inklings who looked to have just came back to the mall themselves after losing a turf war. Cambridge could tell that by the looks on their faces. The spider crab stepped forward.

"I demand that you all escort us to my father!" Celesio declared without any hesitation. They were likely working for the Amabile family if they were in here. The squids laughed between themselves.

"What's so fu-funny?" Cambridge hesitantly asked, confused, trying to sound as confident as his fiancée, which he was doing better than normal.

"Nothing… we'll gladly take you to your father, Celesio," one tanned squid spoke. That sentence was quite a surprise to them since beforehand it seemed like any of the Amabile family who worked for Zaiton were out to splatter them.

"You will? Oh, thank goodness. I'll make sure you receive a nice compensation gift once this is all over…" Celesio stated with a bright smile, seeing one of the squids approaching down the steps. When he got close, Cambridge's eyes widened, realizing that the squid had a syringe in his left hand.

"Celesio! Get back!" he called out, the squid lunging at the pinchling, only to be splattered by a slash of saltwater. Celesio held her mopbrush in her hand.

"Hmph! I'm not a complete moron," Celesio glared at the other four squids. They felt their hearts skip a beat from the surprise attack. Cambridge had a feeling something had been off, only just now getting confirmation of this. Cambridge pulled his custom inkbrush off his side and quickly flicked it out of its compact mode, prepared to battle alongside his fiancée. It was only two against four, and not a too unfair contest.

"If you won't tell me where father is… then I'll torture it out of you," the red spider crab smirked. Two of the squids pulled out inkbrushes before the other two went off to get into different positions. Cambridge got in front of the spider crab, when one of the enemy squids slung pink ink from his brush. Cambridge began spinning his custom inkbrush, rapidly bashing aside any ink that came toward them and sending it splattering on the stairs around them. He was glad that Kreon had forced him into practicing his defensive move. It really paid off a lot lately.

"Please qu-quit threatening people with torture…" Cambridge requested. It never ended well when she threatened people that way, even if they deserved it. He remembered how horrible Jelek looked when he first invaded the warehouse Celesio hit the button on her mopbrush activating its special ability watching it transform and bend into a more spherical claw shape on her left hand and wrist.

"Crab cannon!" Celesio fired two bursts of salt water and splattering the two squids who were planning on attacking them at a range. She aimed at the two at the top of the steps who were frozen in fear. The two were blasted by the salt water, falling flat on their backs, one of them splattered but the other only hit by the splash, leaving him lying there, his eyes closed.

"See how easier things are when you're aggressive?" Celesio asked her fiancé. He shook his head, not seeing it at all. Suddenly they felt a rumble beneath their feet, though it stopped in a short second, but neither of them enjoyed the miniature earthquake.

"Wha-what was that?" Cambridge nervously broke the silence. The spider crab picked up the saltwater soaked squid from the floor, hearing him groan in pain.

"Tell me what is going on," she demanded, before they felt another rumble again. The green squid she was holding was trying his best to get himself together, feeling the saltwater melting him a little.

"Th-the tons of earthquakes that happened in Inkopolis the other day… this mall was really unstable to begin with, bu-but those earthquakes have finished it off… we-we only were here because we respawned here," he explained. Zaiton had ordered the squids to capture his daughter, but it was a big coincidence that they met here. Cambridge did not like the sounds of that. He knew that the monster in the weapon facility had created tremors, but he did not imagine that they had caused too much damage.

"What?!" Celesio gasped, surprised.

"Uh… co-could we get you to tell us where Zaiton is, please?" Cambridge requested, not wanting the thought of the mall collapsing with them inside of it. There was another rumble.

"I-I didn't know… the first guy you splattered knew, he said so-something about an underground facility," the squid coughed. Celesio huffed in anger, hoping that the others had found her father at least. The two felt another rumble.

"we ne-need to get out! There is a gas line under the mall," he added. Cambridge saw some of the cracked floor before them. When the engaged couple had looked away, the squid pulled a syringe out of his pocket. Celesio's eyes widened, feeling that stab her neck in half a second. She dropped her weapon and was on her knees, beginning to fall unconscious.

"Celesio!" Cambridge turned around and swung his inkbrush, but he had to stop when the other squid used his unconscious fiancée as a shield.

"Sorry buddy! Boss's orders!" he laughed. Cambridge could see another squid across the way who was aiming an inkzooka at their way. The blue squid wondering where his backup was that he had requested a long time ago. He wondered if something else had occurred to delay them. In a millisecond, the other squid already made a run for it, carrying the pinchling. The other squid fired his inkzooka in that moment. He felt his world being crushed, the yellow ink blasting into the ground in front of him, knocking him down onto his back.

"Ugh…" Cambridge held his head, covered in the stinging ink. He felt a lot more rumbling around him. The yellow squid had then taken the opportunity and gotten very up close. He looked like a hunter, with three different pocket knives on his side hanging loosely. The ground began to shake more violently and frequently.

"Sorry," the enemy squid aimed his inkzooka in Cambridge's face and squeezed the trigger. Only a few drips of ink came out. He raised an eyebrow, looking down between his ink tank and weapon.

"Just my luck," the enemy sighed. He had used all of his ink with that last shot and forgot to refill anytime sooner. Cambridge's eyes focused on the inkbrush underneath the enemy's feet. He grabbed the custom inkbrush that the foe was standing on and yanked it out from under his feet, causing him to fall down, two of his knives falling off and sliding nearby the blue squid. Cambridge swung upwards, hitting him with a slash of blue ink and splattering him into a puddle of blue goo.

"I really do have terribly good luck myself…" Cambridge groaned, looking around for his fiancée but saw no signs of her or the kidnapper. A big explosion noises sounded, and below him, the ground from where he had come from collapsed. He hurried back up the steps, but tripped in his panic.

"Ah!" Cambridge screamed, falling flat on his face. The ground began to crumble behind him. He used his tentacles on the floor in front of him. He tried his best to pull himself up, but there was nothing he could grab beyond the dusty and loose tiled floor. There was nothing but the terrifying darkness below him. Suddenly the tiles broke loose.

"Someone help!" Cambridge cried, having gripped onto the bare ground his fingernails and clawing desperately, but his tentacles lost their strength as he began to fall. The mall was caving in and collapsing on itself with rubble falling after him. If he was lucky, he would fall into the underground parking lot, but from this height and the darkness surrounding him, he did not think he would make it out unscathed. As the long fall kept going, the only thoughts in his head were his family and friends and memories of all they had done together. He closed his eyes tight and braced himself.

"I love you all…"


	37. History repeats itself

"This was supposed to be faster…" Zaffre was in a car with Detective Granite who was afraid that she was going to harm him if he upset her. They both had gotten the message from Cambridge to meet up with him at the foreclosed mall to help. However, there had been a small earthquake, and thus one of the main roads were destroyed, nearly making it impossible to cross. The two were taking the long route on a side route to get there, crossing the messy traffic as they went. Thankfully, they were nearing their location.

"I'm sorry Miss Verlegen, but I don't have sirens on my Cadillac," Granite apologized. Then again he would annoy a lot of people by turning a siren on to just get by faster, and it would be illegal in its own sense. They had gotten texts from Cambridge to come to this location, and that was not enough to justify a police force being called, but they came to check things out and see if everything was alright. Zaffre was glad that her children were up to handling this task, doubting it was close to easy. She just really wished they had informed her earlier.

"Least traffic seems to be thinning, think we'll be there soon?" Zaffre asked. Traffic was looking less intense now, but it still was pretty bad. The only thing that had improved was the seemingly lowered volume of cars. Granite drank some milk at the moment, until he put it back in his coat pocket.

"We should be almost there now… what the?" Granite pressed on the brake, the Cadillac slowing down quickly. The two could see a lot of smoke in the near distance. Cars were being forced to turn go back and head another direction. They finally arrived to the once foreclosed mall, which now there was nothing but mostly a huge fire and rubble. The fire department were already on scene and working their hardest. Zaffre climbed out of the car to witness the terrifying scene. This was the place her son had told them to meet up, but the older squid presumed Cambridge was not inside. She saw no sign of her other children yet either. Granite approached one of the firemen, Zaffre deciding to follow.

"Excuse me, I am Detective Granite with the IPD," Granite introduced himself to the only firefighter doing nothing but give orders and instructions on what to do to combat the fire and suppress it. He was an older squid, but he seemed calm and collective like he had fought thousands of wild blazes in his history.

"What can I do for you and your cohort, detective?" the elder asked, wondering if there was some sort of arson involved here, but so far the gas line under the mall had exploded, and that was the last nail in the coffin to finish a majority of the mall off.

"We're looking for my son Cambridge. He's kind of short and should be with a crabby girl with a scar and two eye colors. Have you seen them?" Zaffre was not even near the fire, yet she could feel the intense heat from all the way over where she stood. She considered becoming a firefighter at one point in her life, since she was very strong, but the mother had decided against it because she did not want to risk getting horrifically injured while raising her child.

"Yeah. They aren't hard to miss together or alone," Granite chuckled. The man in the fire uniform shook his head.

"Sorry, ain't gotten anyone here like that," he apologized in reply. They heard more rubble moving a little as the blaze intensified. Zaffre sighed in irritation. She was going to have to wait with Granite for all her kids to show up.

Cambridge was in pain. His slowly opening eyes tried to focus and adjust to his surroundings. Everything was fuzzy. He panted and coughed, feeling a burning feeling around him. He lay in the caved in underground parking lot, where there was fire blazing randomly across. He looked at the source of his pain, his right tentacle and left arm.

"Ah-!" Cambridge screamed in shock. His arm was impaled and trapped under rebar and heavy debris. His tentacle was stuck between the piles of rocks, its blue color and orange tint stained in dust. Some of his blue blood seeped from the injury in his arm. Cambridge panicked, seeing the fire spreading. He had no idea what to do.

"Help me! Someone! Help!" Cambridge cried out. Ahead of him, he looked up from the place he fell from. There was no chance to climb out of there, but no one was around to help him. The squids who attacked them in the mall were all splattered now beyond the one who kidnapped his fiancée. He didn't know what to do. He hung his head, defeated.

"Dad… guess history repeats itself, doesn't it…?" Cambridge recalled his mother's retelling about his father's sacrificial death in a fire to save them. He was going to suffer the same fate, and he had to accept it without tears nor regrets, but only memories of his family. Suddenly, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Nearby were the two knives lying under a piece of rock beside his custom inkbrush. The squid he had splattered had accidentally dropped them. At that moment, his mind turned around.

"…no… I won't let my family be ruined again!" Cambridge's voice echoed in his mind. One death had left nothing but one big scar in the hearts of sheen's family, and he refused to create a bigger wound for everyone. With full determination returned, he kicked the rock off the knives, using his free tentacle to pull them over before he grabbed it with his right hand. Only his legs, his left tentacle and his right arm were not trapped.

"Gotta do this… fast…" Cambridge opened the first knife, sharpening it on the concrete beneath him. H raised it to his left tentacle that was stretched back from where it was pinned. He brought the knife right up to the thinnest part of it near his head. He bit his lip in agony, beginning to slice through as fast as he could. In barely a minute, the tentacle was cut off, small blobs of blue blood gushing out. The new wound throbbed in pain.

"When I get out… I will find you, Zaiton… just you wait and see…!" Cambridge panted, putting the knife down. He then grabbed the biggest jagged rock his one hand could hold, raising it high and bringing it down on his trapped arm. He let out a cry of pain, feeling his arm hurt more, but he had no choice. If he wanted to do to his arm what he had done to his tentacle, he would have to break the bone of his forearm since the rebar was piercing the area above his wrist. It took a few more hard painful swings, but eventually he succeeded.

"Alright… agh… now for the hardest part," Cambridge panted, sweating a lot. The fire had spread a bit more, but he was doing his best to keep that in mind to check on the blaze occasionally. The teenage squid reached to his trapped hand. He first removed the ring from it, put it in his mouth, and then slipped it onto his other hand beside the other ring, the two representing his engagement. He did not want to lose either of them if he could help it. Cambridge grabbed the other knife and opened it. The blade bigger and sharper than the other, looking almost brand new as well.

As he cut through his arm, tortured agony and shock waves of pain coursed through his body. He had to saw through it with all of his strength and effort, doing just as his dad had done, except he wasn't using his own teeth for a makeshift knife. He would never risk breaking the ones dangling around his necklace either with how old and brittle they were. The young boy bit his lip, hard enough to actually draw blood.

"Uhgggg-aaaaaaaggggh!" Cambridge cried out as he finished cutting through his arm. There was nothing left of that arm beyond the badly bleeding elbow. The teenage squid grabbed his custom inkbrush, using it as a crutch at this point. He began to make his way toward the fire while it had spread onto a few loose stones. He crouched down, closing his eyes before thrusting his gaping wound into the fire, feeling it burn on contact. His only option was to cauterize it to stop the bleeding. As fast as he could after the excruciating start, Cambridge pulled his amputated limb back out, panting.

"Can't… faint… I've got to get out..." Cambridge continued his slow pace to try and get out of the underground parking garage, leaving behind his trapped limb and tentacle, the knives and a lot of his blood.

"Zaiton… Zaiton… Zaiton…" his mind continued to repeat as he staggered.

"So this is what you've been doing?" Zaffre asked. She and Granite were now with her children and the squid sisters who had showed up, having had to take a longer route here because of the very traffic issues the same ones they encountered.

"Yeah… the copper facility was insane…" Marie muttered, her boyfriend nodding in agreement.

"Antique shop was a bust for the most part too," Kreon shrugged. She found it very satisfying to beat up Jelek.

"Well, at least you've got to checking. I'm just concerned that we haven't seen Cambridge or Celesio. I've advised the fire department to look for them," Granite claimed, hoping that the engaged pair were not even here, and hoped they were safe like the rest of them.

"If I have to, I'll go help," Rackley declared, rubbing his head, finding things like this annoying to be constantly worrying, more so than the teenage squid's own mother did at the moment, though Zaffre had more confidence in her children than most parents would, given the escalating situation.

"Don't worry. Cambridge always has a plan, even if it's been made without five minutes of thought being put into it," Alizarin laughed, receiving a few agreeing chuckles, though Kreon rolled her eyes. That blue squid was good at planning on the fly, but his execution was horrible, but that was what family was for in a sense, to make sure everyone had support and assistance.

"Huh… something is going on," Callie pointed out, noticing three firefighters who had gotten pulled away from their firefight, the chief radioing in something.

"You squiddos wait here to see if Cambridge and Celesio show up. Me and Zaffre will go check it out quick," Granite claimed. The group of squids did not protest.

"Alright, I guess," Zaffre reluctantly agreed. She initially wanted to stay behind and watch out for her son, but decided getting her mind off would help take away some anxiety. The two went to follow the trio of firefighters inconspicuously, all heading to the left side of the foreclosed mall.

"Sir, you need to calm down," one firefighter chimed up.

"You are in critical need of medical aid. In any moment your body could go into shock from the pain," another added. When the two got closer to see what was going on, Zaffre felt her heart stop.

"Cambridge…?!"

Her son was there, his custom inkbrush acting as a crutch. Flashbacks rung in Zaffre's head about how she lost her husband in seconds, like her life was flashing through her eyes.

"Holy shell…" Granite gasped. Out of everything this detective had saw on his career, this was a new level of terror.

"…I can't… I need to find Zaiton…" Cambridge panted. His mom started approaching, with that look of anger across her face. One of the firefighters attempted to halt her.

"Ma'am you need to back away from the sce-gruh!" the firefighter felt a jolt of pain ring through his body. Zaffre jabbed a knee into his lower stomach, making him collapse holding his stomach in pain.

"Cambridge!" Zaffre kneeled to her son.

"Mom…?" Cambridge weakly spoke, seeing her fingers ball up into a fist with tears in her eyes. She saw his stub of an arm and cut off area of his tentacle, and the many bruises and burns across his entire body. In one second, he got punched overhead, and everything went black as he slumped to the ground on top of the firefighter.

"Get him to the emergency room."


	38. Awakening

It was an odd feeling Cambridge had at the moment, like nothing he had felt in a long time. His mind was always racing and his body was endlessly tense, but now there was calm and empty feeling, and flashing thoughts of his family, the alive, dead and kidnapped. It was odd how much he was angry that Zaiton had kidnapped his fiancée. He opened his eyes from his unconscious state, looking around to see his necklace resting on his chest with the charm from his brother the scale from his sister and the three teeth.

"…I'm glad it wasn't a dream…" Cambridge sighed. He was now in a hospital lying in a bed, both of his feet and his only arm restrained. The stubs of his now removed tentacle and arm were both more properly treated.

"Glad what wasn't a dream?" he heard, looking to his left. Kreon was seated beside his bed, watching as small flat screen television up on the wall which was playing an old popular western show from twelve years ago.

"Oh… hey Kreon," Cambridge greeted his sister half-heartedly. He could feel the aura being emitted from her that was not too cheerful at the moment, and he could guess why. The last thing he could recall was his mother being upset before knocking him out to let emergency services aid him.

"Y'know, I still can't figure you out," the dragon inkling switched the television off and chucked the remote behind her out a nearby window without any care, almost as if she found that far more entertaining than what she had been watching. Kreon turned around, leaning into his hospital bed, her head resting on her crossed arms.

"What do you mean? I've been awake for only fifty seconds. Please don't get me too confused," Cambridge requested, not wanting his mind to be overwhelmed so fast after he had received such oddly blissful peace in his slumber, though he presumed that to be from the medication he had received when they had sent him into surgery to do what they could for the remains of his arm. Luckily for him he seemed to have handled everything well and correctly during his self-mutilation.

"Dude. Every time I think I know you better, you do something crazy that you wouldn't normally do…" Kreon began, "I first thought you were some cowardly brat that sucked his thumb and hid behind his friend… but somehow, you're brave enough to throw yourself in front of a car to save someone's life or to fight off hordes of squids that you barely know."

"But Kreon…" Cambridge received green ink spit to his face, the dragon squid having used her special ability on him to keep him quiet. Cambridge used his tentacle to wipe the ink aside.

"But then you're marrying someone you barely knew, and somehow you're very happy about it," Kreon continued, "So I thought you were just someone desperate to settle down… but then we wound up here where I'm looking at someone either so stupid to chop off his arm and tentacle, but to still have such a bloodlust he wanted to hunt down Zaiton, despite his injuries."

She failed at the request to not confuse the medically admitted inkling from describing all she saw from the blue squid over their time spent together as friends and more importantly as family. She still could not get an idea who he actually was beneath the initial cowardice and timid nature his basic self was about.

"I need to find my fiancée…" Cambridge replied, though he could safely assume that he was strapped down to the bed because of how resistant he had been to the firefighters until his mother bashed him unconscious. He was happy she did to save him from death.

"Everyone's out searching but everyone wanted to stay too… so we drew straws to see who stays," Kreon explained. She had luckily gotten the shortest one, but he was surprised at how she was not trying to hide her worries or concerns about her brother. Normally she at least tried to put on a tougher and more serious mindset, despite how that had been changed recently.

"So why did you cut off your limbs? Firemen would've found you," Kreon asked. As she knew, losing a tentacle was just as bad as losing an arm. Now whenever the blue squid turned into his squid form, he would have a harder time moving around. Cambridge then saw his custom inkbrush lying on the nearby table.

"They wouldn't have found me soon enough…" Cambridge shook his head. He hated sitting around doing nothing. He was awake and in pain, but he would manage it, "I did the only thing that made sense. I have to keep everyone safe and happy. Right now I have to find Celesio. She and everyone else is in danger as long as Zaiton's loose."

"You've gotten a lot better at this, way faster than I expected…" Kreon sighed, walking over and taking her old weapon from the nearby table, happy to have given it to him, "All about instincts with this weapon, yet you have the most panicky instincts of anyone, but I guess being unpredictable under stress is a good thing."

Kreon had seen him in a fight, and he was good with it, but she never could tell if it was luck or not. She could not deny that he was right about Zaiton being the big threat. He was converting regular inklings into special rare breeds of squid like herself, but she had no clue what he really wanted to do with the GMM. He would have been turning inklings into crabs right now and sending them out to battle, or perhaps just hiding the new pinchlings.

"I'm glad you gave me it," Cambridge claimed. He never did good with many weapons beyond a jet squelcher. The custom inkbrush was the first thing he ever used at a good quality. He did however come to a sudden thought. He reached down with his tentacle and removed the strap on his wrist, easily unfastening it. Once free, he reached down and undid the straps on his ankles. Cambridge started climbing out of bed.

"They aren't too smart with the restraints," Kreon sighed, turning around to see him standing again. The dragon inkling was unsure whether to admire his determined spirit, or be amazed by his ability to fight through the pain.

"You aren't going to try and stop me?" Cambridge questioned while taking his custom inkbrush from her hand, wondering if she was going to make any effort to halt his focus of saving his fiancée and stopping the yeti crab.

"Mom told me to try and talk it out. Nurses told me to keep you calm. I've done everything I was told already," Kreon shrugged, going over to the side of his hospital bed and digging around in a bag, pulling out a spare change of clothes handing them over to him. Kreon was bored here, and the thought of fighting someone who was able to saw through his own limbs sounded like a poor idea. Her brother hugged her tight with his one arm.

"I'm glad to have you as my sister," Cambridge said. Kreon gave a nice smile. It was going to take some time to get used to see the amputee, though once he got changed into the pink shirt and jeans and had removed his own IV, the two left, planning on more of a secret disembarking of the hospital through a back entrance. It was surprisingly easy to sneak the patient out with his change of clothes and weapon on his side. He looked like just a person visiting a friend. None of the nurses who had been taking care of him were paying attention at the moment.

"So do you know where Zaiton is?" Cambridge questioned his sister as the two made it outside. The sun felt nice on his skin after the long time spent both underground and inside a hospital.

"Detective Granite had one of his cops send pictures of the map again. He thought he saw a secret facility on the map. It's supposed to be underground, so he went there with the rest of our family," Kreon explained. That seemed to be enough for her brother. He nodded, letting his sibling lead the way.

"Zaiton won't get away for any of this…"


	39. Hidden

Zaffre, three of her children, and the Squid Sisters, had arrived to a southern part of Inkopolis, none of them were in a positive mood far from it. Even Rackley, who rarely had a frown on his face, was demoralized. Having used to live in his superhero world, he had changed a lot in a short time, but seeing his brother in such a horrible physical state was traumatizing, despite his girlfriend's best efforts to reassure him. Alizarin had fainted at the hospital, and almost wound up being admitted as well.

"Is that where Granite said the entrance would be?" Callie saw their destination up ahead, glad to have a reason to pierce the silence, but that veil of silence came right back in a second when they saw a very small bakery that looked to have been in a family for decades. 'Bustar's Bakery' was read on the front sign.

"Mommy, I don't think Granite got the directions right," Rackley said. Zaffre rubbed her head. She appreciated the sweet talk and how all her children did not hesitate to call her mother, but she swore that he was only saying mommy in some attempt to cheer her up.

"Granite may act dumb, but he's smart. We can at least look around while we're here," Zaffre replied. The store was open and it appeared to be having a very slow business day. They entered inside and found one sleeping man behind the counter, his head lay on the table, like he had not slept in nearly a week.

"It smells like nothing… well that's weird," Callie murmured. Barely inside a minute and there was no smell to this bakery. It was normal, which was odd for a shop that made various treats. She presumed that she would be able to smell everything in here, or at least she normally would.

"Heh… hey look at this," Alizarin laughed a little, seeing a donut labelled Spider Donut. As namesake, it was cut up into the shape of a spider with a happy face made on it.

"Wait… 9,999 coins…?" Alizarin kept his tentacles together, his desire to eat the spider donut lost upon seeing the price labelled with the name.

"Are you okay?" Callie asked the register worker who seemed to be in his early twenties. No response. She went behind the counter and shook him. The worker stood up straight for half a second before he fell backwards, falling onto the carpeted floor fast asleep, like any remote surface his head could rest upon, no matter how hard, would get him to slumber.

"Uh… I-I think he won't mind if we look around," Callie gulped, standing back up after she had fixed the sleeping squid's tentacles in a way to act as a pillow for him.

"Atta girl," Zaffre patted Callie's back in agreement. The mother squid climbed over the counter. Her three children and their friends so far found nothing on the shelves but one thing strange, that all of the baked goods, pastries, sweets and bread, was all fake or outdated, unsafe for anyone to consume.

"Aside from poor customer service and questionable goods… I don't see anything weird," Rackley declared after they had searched briefly. The lack of customers could probably be equated to these issues. As Agent 3 took a few steps out of the back kitchen, he tripped, falling onto his side.

"Ow! …huh?" he quirked, getting up to look at what he had tripped on. It was the rug of the kitchen floor. Ge found it odd that the kitchen had carpeting at all, but it seemed easy to lift. He had tripped over a small bump in it.

"You okay?" Marie asked, though saw her boyfriend pulling the carpet aside, revealing a hatch that had two handles at the front of it.

"No wonder this place was so bad…" Rackley mumbled. Apparently the horrid work at this baked goods shop was the disguise for the secret hideout after all.

"Great find, honey! I'll let detective Granite know what we found," Zaffre declared while getting her cellphone out.

"What if it's just a storage basement?" Alizarin asked, gaining a lot of raised eyebrows from the others at that statement since it seemed a little ridiculous.

"I understand a locked door for storage, but you don't use a five inch thick metal hatch for storage," Marie replied to the disappointed Alizarin. How fast his theory was debunked, but Alizarin was glad they found it.

It was a good walk to the same location a few blocks away, but Cambridge and Kreon then came across two SWAT vehicles coming with several other police vehicles. Unassuming as it was, but it was a good sign that they had stumbled on Zaiton's location. The law enforcement of Inkopolis had exclusive ink weaponry that only they were allowed to use or carry. Anyone else caught wielding even the weakest of their weapons would be charged with a large crime.

"We better hurry," Cambridge insisted, the two beginning to run for it. Thankfully he seemed to have his energy back and holding pretty well, though there was tremendous pain around his body that he was fighting off. The two saw the baked goods shop at the end of the block. That was definitely where the officers were. Some SWAT members were preparing inkproof suiting so they would not be splattered. It made it an easy job to fend off most criminals.

"Detective Granite!" Kreon called out, the two seeing the detective standing there nearby, who was surprised to see them.

"Oh hey, Kreon. And I'm glad to see you already out of the hospital, Cambridge… boy you really gave everyone a scare," Granite chuckled half-heartedly, but wished he didn't see that ever in his life. The teenage squids knew not to say that they had snuck out of the hospital without informing anyone. So far the hospital had not noticed, since none of his family had been informed of his absence from intensive care.

"Hey detective. Where is everyone?" Kreon asked. The detective pointed a thumb inside.

"They're already inside of Zaiton's… well… lair, I guess," Granite could not find any better of a name to classify this location as beyond villain's lair. They had the yeti crab cornered at this point, but they were still taking caution in case things went wrong.

"We're coming with you," Cambridge stated, showing a fearless attitude on the outside, and hopefully inside.

"Wow, Cambridge, you actually look like you aren't terrified for once," Granite claimed. He had never seen Cambridge like this before, but he was more than happy to take them in with him. The teenage squids were glad to have met with this detective. He always was helpful and glad to be of service to the Verlegen family whenever he was around. The black inkling did his best to serve and aid them. For some odd reason, Cambridge was starting to wonder if there was an ulterior motive for his actions. For now though, they were going to accept the help.

"Oww… where am I?" Celesio complained, her head and body aching. The drug that she had been injected with to render her unconscious had an aggravating side effect of pain for a bit. When she was fully awake and moving, she was baffled. A prison cell surrounded her, iron bars barricading the only way out. She tried to open the door, but of course it was locked. The spider crab had no clue what was going on. She recalled being stabbed by the syringe, and that was it.

"Good morning sweetheart," she heard a familiar voice. Zaiton approached the bars with a quite happy look. His appearance however was not familiar. Celesio was a little astonished to see the now white octarian before her, his white tentacles leaned back. Octarians were recognizable by their purple upward eyelashes.

"Da… Daddy? You're an octarian now?" Celesio questioned in astonishment. It did nothing but made her wonder more if she truly was a pinchling.

"Now?" Zaiton let out a chuckle, "Deary, I've always been one…"

"Wha…?" Celesio froze in place, confused.

"The cat's out of the bag now… I turned myself into a pinchling with this old gizmo while I was working for DJ Octavio," Zaiton presented the Genetic Modification Machine, all assembled together into five different pieces. He aimed it for himself, hitting a button. In half a second, he was a pinchling again. Another press of the button made him back to octoling form. He changed forms back and forth several times, as if to just taunt her mind.

"So… none of us ever were pinchlings? It was all made up?" Celesio looked quite saddened by this. Zaiton, staying in his yeti crab form, pocketed the GMM after it had folded into its more compact form. Seeing his daughter upset still struck a nerve on him.

"We weren't anything at first… me and your grandfather were really octarians! Naturally, when your mother had your egg, I planned to change you the moment you hatched… but you weren't an octopus. You were a spider crab," Zaiton explained. His daughter looked up at him, even more confused than before, but then it dawned on her upon understanding it all.

"…I'm the only real pinchling of the Amabile family line…? Father, how could you lie to me all these years! You murdered grandpa! You made up the idea and lie up of you two being born pinchlings! You're not an octopus or a crab… you're just a monster!" Celesio, broken, grabbed the bars of the cell in rage, but suddenly felt one brief zap before being knocked back flat onto her back.

"Sorry dear, but the bars are electric," Zaiton apologized, brushing her insults aside with no care. He began to see another squid coming.

"Sir, we have intruders! SWAT, police forces, and those people we saw in the research facility," the squid stated.

"Good…" the boss grinned, "Release our latest forces, I'm sure they'll be glad to test them for us."


	40. Splitting up

The Squid Sisters, Zaffre and three of her children had climbed down the hatch into Zaiton's well-lit lair, though after a short time of travel, they had reached a huge branching routes with multiple paths to pick from. They began to see the SWAT team and officers moving in, and shortly behind them were familiar faces.

"Mom!" Cambridge and Kreon called out as they approached, Detective Granite behind them. Everyone seemed instantly happier to see the amputee up and about, despite his bruises, burns and injuries.

"What are you doing out of the hospital?" Zaffre asked. The two froze, unsure how to answer. Their whole family and friends had the same lingering question as well, though they were happy to see him nonetheless.

"I removed my restraints and snuck out without telling anyone," Cambridge honestly answered without hesitation like he had gained more confidence. His mother sighed holding her head before calming down, and rubbing his head as if to reassure everything was alright and to apologize for the hard punch she had given him.

"Sorry for hurting you… I had to so you could get help. Once things are done here, you'll get plenty of rest," Zaffre apologized.

"Of course," her son nodded, hugging her with his one arm. He would have no choice but to take it easy. His body was at its limit with how crazy things had been. Cambridge did have one trick up his sleeve though in case of an emergency. He still had that new special ability on his inkbrush that Crion had given him, and he had not tried it out yet, but he hoped it was worth it. He planned to only use it in a rough situation he might find here.

"You have an interesting family," Marie stated to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have it any other way," Agent 3 smiled, though they were noticing the SWAT team talking with Granite, having no clue which direction to go. They could explore all routes, but they were worried about stumbling upon traps or more of Zaiton's goons. The vast number of goons down here was unknown. Fortunately, everyone was ready for a mini turf war whenever needed.

"So… now that we've got everyone, what's the plan?" Alizarin asked, though everyone knew there was no direct indication pointing them to where Zaiton could be each hallway looked the same. They noticed the SWAT team head one way. As usual protocol, the SWAT team was going to work together, even if it meant they had to go slow and check each hallway and room individually.

"Should we split up?" Callie suggested. The room felt a lot colder all of a sudden. No one liked the idea of separation, but if there were any traps around, then the less of them who got caught, the better. it sadly was the best idea at the moment

"Alright. There are four hallways left for us to go down," Marie agreed that it was, unfortunately, the best idea.

"Let's let mom decide," Rackley insisted their mother decide who went where. Zaffre did not mind. Cambridge and everyone else were all ready for whatever was up ahead.

"Squid Sisters, you two go down the right one… Alizarin and Kreon, you go down the middle," Zaffre stated. Instantly there was a sense of annoyance emanating from the dragon inkling.

"Sweet!" Alizarin laughed, before feeling his sibling's green tentacles around his neck to give a tremendous warning to be silent.

"Greaaaat…" Kreon put on the angriest fake smile she could, respecting her adoptive parent's decision.

"And Rackley, you and Cambridge can check the left one. Granite and I will go down the far left one," Zaffre finished. Rackley pulled his sibling into a hug, joyful to be spending time with him, especially on a mission like this. He had not had this much fun since the time when he fought the octarian army. The zord fight was just as enjoyable to him.

"Alright," Cambridge nodded, his custom inkbrush dangling off his side.

"Alright let's move," Granite declared, ready to go. The squids scattered into separate groups, heading down the hallways. When they did, each hallway had a thick metal barrier slide down behind the opening, closing it off instantly. All of the groups were now split up and cut off and unable to regroup. Even the SWAT team were on their own with no way to radio for backup underground. It was as if they had been watched the entire time.

"I put us in a bad position again, didn't I?" Callie muttered. While she and Marie were walking, they had initially seen what had occurred. They were all separated, but she did not blame her cousin. She had tried multiple times repeatedly during their war with the octarians to try and aid them with plans. Only one worked out alright thanks to Agent 3. The white inkling hated seeing her upset.

"The plan was as good an option as any. Don't worry about it," Marie replied, not wanting to dwell on it, thinking that they would be able to easily regroup later. It was better to have everyone to think on a moderate plan than having one person to. The hallway they wandered down was a bit eerie, made of concrete, and having lots of long pipes running along the walls and ceiling. The lights illuminated their path for them, held by the thin wires supplying them with electricity.

"Ow! Jeez…" Callie groaned. One of the pipes valves had randomly shot off with steam emitting from it. The two walked past it at a faster pace. They were beginning to hear disturbing clanging noises, but they were not going to be frightened of the noises made by the old structure.

The eight unit squad arrived into one big room that was no better lit than the long hallway they had traveled down. The room they had entered seemed to be a prison. Each captivity chamber had odd chairs and tools beside them. Anyone locked in there were perhaps kept strapped down and tortured.

"That's not a good sign…" one of the SWAT team members spoke, aiming a splotch gun with a flashlight on it into the second prison chamber. The bars on it were now bent or broken, electricity still surging from it. They did not see any sign of Celesio, the hostage they had been informed by the detective to keep an eye out for.

"Ahh!" one of the other members screamed as the lights went out, his screams vanishing as fast as they begun.

"Henderson, sheesh, calm down. The breaker probably got flipped," another SWAT member rolled his eyes, aiming his flashlight over where the scream came from. There was nothing but a puddle of white ink and the inkproof armor.

"Henderson?" another loud splattering noise emitted, one after another in a rapid pace. The single SWAT officer was alone in the room. White ink lay everywhere in a puddle. He had his flashlight out, hearing a low humming growl. The SWAT member aimed his flashlight behind him in a quick spin, and just then, his heart sunk. A giant beastly red crab, jagged, muscular and rugged, stood before him after it had destroyed the rest of the SWAT team with ease. It breathed deeply and exhaled a cold misty breath.

"Oh sweet Cthulhu!" the SWAT officer aimed his splotch gun upwards, firing a burst of green ink that hit the large creature's chest. It recoiled in pain, but then it stood straight up, letting out a horrifying roar in front of the shooter. It grabbed his weapon with the two giant claws and crunched it into shards. The officer fell backwards, his eyes locked with the monster to see white ink emitting from inside the pincers.

"No wait, please!" the SWAT member got grabbed by his sides, one claw picking him up off the floor and then crushing him. He splattered painfully into a puddle of white ink. The crab monster let out a loud roar as it began to stomp off after disabling the SWAT team with minimal effort. Sadly for them all, that it was not the only monster in Zaiton's lair. They had a lot in store for the Verlegen's group to deal with.


	41. Monster

Alizarin and Kreon wandered through a series of multiple rooms. They stumbled upon the building's storage rooms and thus investigated the fourth air vent they had found that was circulating all air throughout the secret hideout from outside. Alizarin looked around halfway in the air vent.

"Well? Can we get back out through it?" Kreon asked. They had been trying to find a way to get back to their family when the wall closed behind them and trapped them apart from their family. She heard her brother bang the vent in irritation before crawling out.

"Not really. We're gonna have to just hope we find our own way out," Alizarin repeated the same thing he had said at the last few vents he had been forced to crawl into by his adoptive sister. The dragon squid swore that they got paired together intentionally all the time by their family or friends. They heard the same clanking noise again, which they had assumed was the pipes themselves making the noise, but it was getting oddly disturbing by now.

"That's it," Kreon pulled her salmon slingshot off her side and aimed at one of the pipes, pulling back the elastic band and watching a green ball of ink quickly take form.

"Scatter splatter!" she fired the green ball that exploded into smaller ink balls that splattered all over the ceiling. They could hear a sudden screech and a loud thud. The thing fell to the floor, revealing a giant squid with so many tentacles that it was ridiculous. The two could not even believe what they were seeing. Alizarin got his tri slosher off his side aiming for the scary mutated squid it looked like a spider almost. The creature's many tentacle moved back, and it began firing a white ink from each of its tentacles.

"Ah jeez!" Kreon grabbed her brother and forced them both to the floor, ducking underneath all of the ink as it hit the wall, coating it in white.

"A spider squid… well it is pretty awesome," Alizarin confessed he found it cool, but terrifying. His sister just wanted to splatter it already. She stood up, firing three quick bursts of green ink from her salmon slingshot and hitting the spider squid in the face, leg and chest. It stung but momentarily stunned it. Alizarin ran up and swung forward, creating a thrust of red ink from his tri slosher that splashed all over the monster.

"Wow. It sure is resilient… " Kreon said uneasily, hearing the spider squid let out a loud roar. It fired a giant burst of white ink from all of its tentacles combined. Alizarin hit the button on his tri slosher.

"Bubbler!" spheres appeared around them, instantly blocking the attack with ease, though while waiting for their bubblers to clear off the white ink so they could attack again, the spider squid went charging at them, its large feet stomping on the ground as sharp points appeared at the end of each tentacle. It stabbed them all into Kreon's bubbler. The dragon squid had no time left to react as her protective shield shattered. She was knocked down to the floor, her head hitting the concrete hard.

"Kreon!" Alizarin gasped. The dragon squid was out cold. He jumped onto the monster squid's back, hearing it roar in anger. He kept hitting it with wave after wave of red ink from his tri slosher until his ink tank ran dry. He spiked the weapon it onto the monster's head to try and impede its vision. However the red squid had no chance to dismount the beast before three of its tentacles wrapped around him.

"Wuh oh…" Alizarin gulped before he was tossed into the pipes in the ceiling that busted instantly upon collision. Steam burst out of each of them. Alizarin continued to be tossed around the room, slammed and crushed around the walls and ceiling. Nine collisions passed, and he was unconscious with bruises and scrapes all over his body and face. The spider squid wrapped its tentacles around the two siblings' feet, beginning to drag them away, leaving behind their weapons.

Cambridge and Rackley were in a big, circular and empty room. Only a flat table in the center stood there with odd looking tools beside it, though it appeared like they had not been touched in a long time. There were windows all along the walls here, but they couldn't see through them.

"Any luck?" Rackley quirked, watching his brother bash the glass with the bottom of his custom inkbrush. Cambridge shook his head.

"No… whatever they made these out of are really tough," Cambridge replied. Agent 3 went over to the many tools picking one up, his brother stepping over. Cambridge felt that it looked to be one piece of the GMM he held before, but it appeared to just be a busted prototype.

"Let's keep going then. No point hanging around here," Agent 3 shrugged. There was an exit here at least, one single door leading further into this lair. However when they tried to open it, the knob refused to turn.

"Locked… great. We can't go back, or forward… " Rackley murmured, rubbing his head annoyed. He had infiltrated some octarian war camps that were less confusing than this.

"Maybe we missed an alternate way out earlier?" Cambridge suggested to his older sibling the only idea he had in mind at the moment. However when they turned around, they heard a rumble before seeing a crack on one of the many windows.

"Wh… what was that?" Cambridge asked.

"S-step back!" Agent 3 insisted as the rumbling got louder. Suddenly the wall began to crack along with the glass and it exploded to pieces. The very crab monster that had disposed of the SWAT team stood there, letting out a huff of its icy cold breath.

"What in the name of Captain Cuttlefish's cane is that?!" Rackley's jaw dropped. He knew one thing, that it was not friendly. He got his Luna Blaster off his side.

"B-be careful with those claws," Cambridge warned, his custom inkbrush drawn and held by his one arm. Those things producing white ink in the center were intimidating, but he was trying his best to sound confident. The two saw the monster grab the table in the room center and throw it at them. They both quickly got out of the way, Cambridge quickly moving and slashing it with a quick trail of blue ink, hitting across its chest and arm. However the crab stood tall.

"It didn't react?!" his eyes widened as he got punched backwards by a claw to the stomach. He slid on the ground a bit.

"Hey, over here, ugly!" Rackley called out, getting its attention and firing his Luna Blaster. Each sphere of blue ink that hit angered the monster like they were just poking it with pointy sticks. The two watched it dig its claws into the concrete floor, tearing out a slab with ease and then chucking it at the squid ranger. Rackley promptly changed into his squid form to dodge it, the concrete breaking into pieces on impact with the ground.

"Wh-what do we do?!" Cambridge asked Rackley. If he got close again with his inkbrush, he would receive far worse than a simple bash to the chest.

"Same thing you do when there's something bigger than you. Look for a very obvious weak point and hope you can hit it enough," Rackley answered while changing out of his squid form, firing more ink from his Luna Blaster and gaining the beast's attention. The monster crab stomped towards him, dripping white ink. Cambridge could not see any weakness as far as he could tell, until it hit him. The monster was as slow as an elephant. The blue squid made a rush for the monster, jumping at it and kicked it with the force of his legs into its back, watching it begin to fall forward.

"Alright!" Rackley laughed, opening fire. Multiple blasts of ink flew from his Luna Blaster, hitting the beast in the head. It fell to the floor face first, cracking the ground. It was no longer moving after that. They had rendered it unconscious with their combined efforts. They were slightly drained from how hard that was.

"Okay… s I guess Zaiton is going a bit overboard with his pinchling creation," Cambridge sighed, looking at the now broken wall.

"At least it made us another path. Come on," Rackley insisted. The two continued through the broken area in the wall. Things calmed down a lot as they tried to just regain their energy from that insanity.

"So… at your wedding, who do you want to be your best man?" Agent 3 decided to try and bring up a calming topic to make things better. Hopefully his brother laughed a little at this.

"Look, I'd rather not worry about that stuff, yet we're still a ways off," Cambridge brushed it aside as they continued on. He hoped everyone was doing alright.

"I hope there aren't more of these monsters…"


	42. Captured

"Get me doooown!" Callie cried. She and Marie were in an awkward position, Callie dangling upside down from the ceiling with a wire wrapped around her feet. She was afraid of being upside down in the air, after a bungee jumping trip with her cousin instilled a huge source of fear into her. Callie already had stage fright issues that Marie and the teleprompter helped with.

"Calm down, you're going to hurt yourself," Marie told her that this was a complete accident. They had seen a vent on the ceiling and had fired ink at the wall and ceiling to try and swim into it in their squid forms. However Callie rushed for it, and unable to get through the vent, fell into one of the dangling light fixtures, the wires wrapped around her feet and capturing her.

"I'll see if I can find something to get you down," Marie claimed, not wanting to hurt her dear cousin. The concrete floor made for a poor landing location, and if she went up there in her squid form, it would knock Callie off. Marie sighed, going off to the next room. She looked closely around the dark room to see some shelves with medical supplies around.

"Medical supplies… emergency surgical kits… wait… that's it!" Marie smiled, going over and grabbing one of the very dusty and old emergency surgery kits which were meant for any operating room that needed an emergency set of extra tools that they had not gotten enough of with other materials. The Squid Sister opened it up. The kit was packed with tools that she didn't recognize, but she found a scalpel, taking it, and then resting the kit back on the shelf.

"Alright, Callie, I'm bringing something that will help!" Marie called out, beginning to make her way back. She planned on handing it to her cousin to let her cut herself down so she could be caught without hurting herself. However, her heart skipped a beat when she entered the room again

"Callie…?" her weak voice chimed. Her cousin and the wire holding her had vanished. She did not know what she would do if something happened to Callie, but she had no clue where to look or go. Nothing in the room had changed beyond the vanishing act. The white inkling stood there, pocketing the scalpel and trying to think. Something behind her began to slowly appear, changing colors quite fast, having been concealed against the wall. The mutant, long tailed tall squid stood behind her, looking to have had an odd birth defect that affected the various oddities of its bones.

"Ahh!" Marie was grabbed and then pressed against the wall, her arms restrained. She had no chance to react as her missing cousin had distracted her. She was quickly slammed against the wall again and knocked out. She fell flat onto her back upon being released, the monster reaching down and grabbing her leg, and beginning to drag her away through a nearby door where an unconscious Callie lay, having been narrowly forced to use her disappearance as a distraction. It continued down the lair to take them to a specific spot.

Zaffre and Detective Granite were in a maze. The long corridor began to branch out into various twists and turns. It was both disturbing and annoying, and they had no clue whether or not they were even able to reach the end or find Zaiton. Some paths were caved in by something fairly recently.

"I swear, I feel like we're being followed," Detective Granite spoke as they continued forward. That was the fifth time he had brought up the paranoid sixth sense of something stalking them. He had not felt comfortable since it started.

"And I swear you're getting tiringly paranoid," Zaffre retorted, getting annoyed by his constant exclamation. However, they then came across a single door with a light on it. The two immediately opened it and entered inside. There was a weird room with a control console with a chair, a mostly empty room at that.

"Celesio!" Granite spoke. The pinchling lay on the ground of a cell unconscious, the door wide open. The detective ran to her side. Zaffre looked around, standing in the doorway of the cell, feeling hesitant to enter.

"Hey, come on, wake up," the detective shook Celesio, trying to get her to wake up. She murmured and stirred, but did not respond. Zaffre had her hand on the cell bar beside her, when suddenly it shocked her out of nowhere, making her jerk back.

"What the heck!?" suddenly from behind her, she saw the yeti crab, his arms both in their claw form with white hair running along them. He took a swing at the mother inkling, but she ducked under the attack.

"You can't even fight like a man?!" Zaffre sprung up, delivering a strong uppercut to his jaw which was hard enough to rattle his teeth. The crab fell onto his back. Granite was stunned by the surprise, watching the battle start. Zaiton was quickly pinned down by Zaffre who sat on top of him, repeatedly punching him in the face. Whenever he tried to counter attack, she blocked him.

"You made my son cut his limbs off!" Zaffre shouted between punches. The yeti crab had not anticipated how strong she truly was. He watched her stand up, about to literally stomp on his face. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and thrown into the cell, crashing into Granite.

"Ow… huh?!" Zaffre suddenly noticed the unconscious Squid Sisters who were then tossed in as well, and then followed the unconscious Kreon and Alizarin. The monstrous spider squid and the over-muscular ink-covered crab stood. The cell door shut tight, then locked.

"Urgh… I give you Verlegens credit for somehow always being a pain… in both a literal and metaphorical sense," Zaiton grunted, his two monsters beside him. He was sore from that beating he had gained.

"Where's Cambridge and Rackley?!" Zaffre demanded, angrily approaching the bars, aware that they were electrified.

"Out of all your idiot children and their friends, those two escaped… but I'm sure they'll be here soon," Zaiton answered. Zaffre paused for a second, until she grabbed his shirt, through the electrified bars. Zaffre pulled the yeti crab into the bars, hearing him screaming in pain while being electrocuted with her. After the minute that felt like an eternity, Zaffre got punched off him by the crab monster while the spider squid pulled their leader safely away.

"What in the name of the twenty seas?! You're insane! You nearly shocked yourself alive! I hope you're happy about this!" Zaiton shouted. Zaffre sat on the floor with a grin on her face.

"I'm still alive, and you're in pain. I'm more than happy about this," the mother inkling retorted. Zaiton just held his head, beginning to walk away to begin preparing himself and his cohorts. He pulled out a radio, trying to tolerate the pain.

"Alright, squids. Get into position."


	43. Danger head on

Cambridge and Rackley ended up at the biggest room they could find after they traveled through so much of the lair. It was wide open, full of random boxes, but it appeared to be some form of safety protocol area with controls for the water sprinklers that were attached to the ceilings in case any fires broke out.

"…and that octarian ultra wedgie gave me nightmares for weeks," Agent 3 just finished telling his brother a story from his past adventures, gaining some laughs from the amputee squid. Cambridge was not able to imagine how his brother wound up in that situation, but considering his own quality of life right now, who was he to judge.

"There they are!" they heard a random squid shout before suddenly they saw red ink soaring for them from a rapid blaster. They both dodged aside from it, Rackley drawing his Luna Blaster before quickly firing a blue sphere of ink, splattering the enemy instantly upon contact. They both took cover, assuming that the single squid was not just shouting that loud for his own poor memory's sake.

"Uh oh…" Cambridge got his custom inkbrush ready, seeing several more inklings who were making their presence known in the room. One tried to sneak up in their squid form to attack the one armed squid, but he swung upwards, hitting them with a slash of blue ink and easily splattering them.

"Well, I guess this means we're on the right track," Rackley told his brother. He hoped this was a good thing. He would be very annoyed if they just stumbled upon a bunch of loiterers on break instead of Zaiton's goons. Cambridge had to agree about that as he watched Agent 3 hit the button on his Luna Blaster which then changed into its inkzooka form.

"I'll handle this," the squid ranger fired a blast of ink, splattering a ton of squids in one blast. He just kept firing one inkzooka blast after another for the next passing minute. Half of the room was soaked in blue ink afterwards, and there was no one else in it but the two of them.

"Wow… that was surprisingly easy," Cambridge confessed. He expected a harder fight than that, but he was not going to complain about an easy victory. They already anticipated Zaiton to be the biggest threat down here. However they could hear a weird rattling noise that seemingly sounded from the pipes, but there was no way for them to see up there. The lighting was very poor due to the fixtures light being more fixated to a downward angle.

"Oh, shrimp puffs," Rackley got smashed into the ground by something that had fallen from the ceiling at a huge speed, and he was instantly knocked out. Cambridge's widened eyes focused on the weird spider squid before him, all those tentacles overwhelmingly intimidating him. Before he could do anything, the spider squid began firing its white ink at him.

"Ahh!" he rapidly smacked the white ink aside with his custom inkbrush, until he felt another rumble. Then emerged same over-muscular crab which entered the room, this time not breaking through a wall. Cambridge was hoping they had dealt with that earlier. The spider squid had Rackley in its many tentacles. It jumped over the boxes, passing by the other monster.

"Rackley! Get back here with him!" Cambridge shouted. He was afraid, but also determined to see his sibling saved. The monster crab grabbed one of the big wooden boxes and tossed it at the teenage squid. He quickly turned into his squid form and swam away the box which broke to bits on the ground. It was hard for him to swim with only one tentacle, but he was making do with what he had. Cambridge appeared behind the monster, jumping at it in an attempt to kick it down.

"Uh oh…!" he was grabbed by his ankles in mid-air. The monster crab had learnt that from last time. It threw Cambridge on the floor. He groaned in pain, feeling the white ink stinging his ankle from when it grabbed him. The monster jabbed one of its big claws at him, but Cambridge rolled aside, watching it pierce the concrete. This oversized crab was out for blood, but then seeing this, it gave the one armed inkling an idea. He stood up, getting his custom inkbrush ready and charged for it.

"Come on, try me!" Cambridge taunted, ducking under its next attack before he swung several times, hitting it with each slash of blue ink. The blue-coated monster crab let out a piercing roar, raising both of its claws up and throwing them downwards at him like a sledgehammer. Cambridge jumped back, watching the ground begin breaking underneath the monster. It was so slow and heavy that it could spell its own defeat by doing both. All the damage it had done had finally piled up.

"Sorry," Cambridge watched the monster let out a loud echoing howl as it fell into the hole. It probably was not too deep, but hopefully deep enough to keep it trapped.

"I'm coming, Rackley!" he switched the custom inkbrush to its compact mode before hanging it over his side and jumping over the hole, rushing down the hall after the spider squid that had kidnapped his brother. He hoped he would be able to catch them, or at least maybe it meant he was nearing Zaiton.

After a run that felt like it led through an endless chain of annoying rooms, and splattered dozens upon dozens of random inklings, he finally arrived to the very room he sought for. Its lights were a lot better in here than anywhere else, almost as if they had better power in here. Upon entering, things felt a lot worse for him.

"Cambridge!" Zaffre called out, her son coming over to see everyone trapped in that one tiny cell. Everyone was here, awake and happy to see him, but they had no way out. Even Celesio was here, who was the last to notice him.

"Cambridge! I was afraid I'd never see you again… oh goodness," Celesio froze, now seeing her fiancé's only one tentacle and arm. She wondered what could have transpired since her kidnapping that caused this.

"Get us out of here, buddy! It's so cramped in here and I don't like feeling so many other tentacles on me," Alizarin had tried eight times already to slip out between the bars in his squid form, but the electricity felt a lot more magnified in his squid form due to the size change. Just then, Cambridge heard the doors shut close loudly, covered by metal shutters from before. He then noticed the same spider squid appear from around the side of the cell.

"I'm not playing around! Back down and tell me where Zaiton is!" Cambridge tried to sound threatening, out of his comfort by a long way. If he was forced into this position, he was going to do what his dad advised, handle things blindly and play it by ear while hoping they went well.

The spider squid fired its white ink from its tentacles. Cambridge began to rapidly spin his custom inkbrush with his one hand. It was hard, but he managed to block all of the ink and brush it aside. He then noticed the spider squid panting. It had been working so hard from fighting and kidnapping that it had run out of energy.

"Watch out! It has a trick up its tentacles!" Kreon warned her brother. On cue, the spider squid had the sharp dagger-like blades appear at the end of each tentacle. It was sick of fighting with ink. It began to run on all fours at the blue squid. Cambridge stood there shaking a bit. He had to just do what his instincts told him. It would catch him with minimal effort if he just ran. His guard was a lot weaker now only having one arm, but the dragon inkling had told him his panicked unpredictable style of fighting was useful in its own regards. Cambridge gathered his nerve and did what his mind could only think to do when a spider was trying to attack.

"Sorry!" Cambridge raised a leg up as the spider squid lunged at him in an effort to cut him to ribbons. The blue squid brought his leg downward, and in one strong motion, stomped on the enemy's head, crushing it into the ground. Like the overgrown spider it was, it had been certainly a move that did more way beyond stunning his enemy. Cambridge did not give the spider squid the chance recover as he began swinging his paintbrush, hitting it in the back rapidly until it finally splattered into a puddle of blue ink. Cambridge stood there, panting. A clapping sounded, and Zaiton revealed himself to him, standing there. The boy's eyes averted to him.

"Well done, Cambridge… but that's as far as you're going to get."


	44. Monsters

"Zaiton…" Cambridge glared to the yeti crab before him who had the tons of bruises and scrapes he received from Zaffre. The white crab was more than ready this time, not finding a newly crippled teenager to be much of a threat and assuming he only made it this far by luck.

"Do I even dare ask how you lost your arm and tentacle? It makes me feel a tiny bit of guilt in my heart to know how unfair of a fight this is already," Zaiton requested in a condescending tone. All Cambridge's friends and family could do was watch from the tiny cell, wishing to get out, but any attempts got them shocked, it was equally frustrating that they had their weapons, but they had no remote ability to aim through the bars at Zaiton. The young blue squid stepped up with his custom inkbrush in his hand gripped tight.

"When we went to the foreclosed mall, a gasline exploded right after your worker kidnapped my fiancée! I cut them off myself to save my life…" Cambridge panted. Just recalling it made him feel like he was in the flames again. The yeti crab showed no care about that though. The room felt a lot quieter. Cambridge was ready to fight and demolish the bloodsucking monster before him.

"Quite a shame… oh well, you being unlucky is not what I care for right now. I want your life," Zaiton grinned, his arms changing into their claw forms. He began to charge at Cambridge. The boy quickly rolled aside, watching him miss and his heels into the ground to turn around. The room was beginning to lower into a more open space, but also more intense each passing second.

"Cambridge!" Zaffre and Celesio called. The cell not moving the main floor of the room was the only thing lowering. Cambridge groaned, swearing that the yeti crab was doing everything in his power to make things more difficult for the blue squid, but he began to realize that the room had finished lowering, and now the walls were lined with cells that had been hidden at this level.

"Oh no…" Cambridge muttered. In each cell was another freaky monster, just like the last two. There were so many in shape and sizes that it frightened him greatly. He had no clue what he was going to do when they got unleashed upon him. The one who had created all these monsters was going to enjoy the slaughter that was going to happen.

"Yes… soon, there will be an army of these, all of which will aid me in capturing any squid who refuses to submit to the Amabile family," Zaiton hummed, snapping his fingers. Cambridge long before had figured out his plan that was nowhere subtle4. The teenager looked down at the necklace around his neck.

"Dad… give me strength… or luck," Cambridge gulped, trying to prepare himself, seeing not one but all eight of the cells surrounding him. It was terrifying to imagine at one point these squids turned monsters will surround him. He was feeling the anxiety overwhelming him, his heart racing and his hand shaking. One giant monster, three times their size, stood behind Zaiton, crawling on four legs.

"Any last words, Verlegen? Because once I dispose of you, I am going to make sure everyone else is dealt with, one by one," the yeti crab requested. Cambridge looked to his custom inkbrush, and he hit the button to activate the special ability.

"Ultra-jump?" Cambridge chirped with a raised eyebrow. That was all he could see. He did not feel any different. He wondered if he had installed it wrong. Crion had gifted him this after all. When the tall monster swung one of its long hands at him, he reacted by jumping over it. That tiny jump he intended to do wound up sending him high into the air.

"Whooooa!" Cambridge landed on top of the beast, balancing on one leg, desperately trying not to fall. The special ability was just being able to super jump in his inkling form. However, this sent an idea through his head, looking up at the control consoles up ahead.

"You have nowhere to run, Verlegen!" Zaiton called out. Cambridge decided to not mess around. He leapt up, raising his custom inkbrush back and slamming it onto the control console, splattering ink all into it. The yeti crab realized what he was doing at that moment.

"No! Get him! Now!" he shouted to the monsters as the blue inkling began to fall back down. The tall monster swung one of its hands at him, roaring. Cambridge spun around, rapidly slashing the arm with blue ink as he fell. The monster retracting in pain as he landed on the ground, having landed on his side. Cambridge let out a pained groan. As he lay there for a moment, a loud crash suddenly sounded, and the metal door on the cell had fallen down. They suddenly saw everyone emerge and land on the ground with their weapons active and ready, Cambridge being helped up by his family.

"You're not going anywhere now, Zaiton."


	45. The end

**Authors Note: Hi all! Hope you enjoyed this fic, either way I had fun writing it.**

"Sorry, Zaiton. You're under arrest," Detective Granite spoke up. Cambridge was very happy to have his family and friends freed from the prison cell, but they were still trapped in this lower area surrounded by various monsters, and even the yeti crab was well aware of this. He began laughing at their threats that he saw as humorous.

"You morons do realize you are surrounded by my best modified minions. I was going to kill you all one by one, but I suppose all together will do just as fine…" Zaiton shrugged, having regained his composure quite fast despite the threat of this. He pointed his arm at Cambridge, having changed it into its pincer form, "…starting with you, the most problematic of all!"

Cambridge heard a roar, seeing a weird springy monster lunge at him from above. However when it got close, it was smashed away and splattered instantly by a ball of green ink and a slosh of red ink, leaving nothing but the light rain of goo. The giant monster did not get a chance to move before being shot by a huge burst of blue ink that made it stumble back into the wall by an inkzooka blast. It got hit four more times in rapid succession before exploding into blue ink. Cambridge saw Agent 3 and Alizarin step up.

"If you want to hurt him, you're going to have to go through his brothers," Alizarin exclaimed. The yeti crab huffed, but then received a hit in his left eye by another green ball of ink. Kreon took the opportunity to get a free shot in.

"And his sister, you white haired freak of nature," the dragon squid smirked. They were more than glad to face the monsters before them. One monster had a wide mouth, with which it fired a big ball of white ink into the air, which came down toward the group. Celesio stepped up, both of her arms changing into their pincer forms which she then stabbed at the white ink, splitting it in half and sending the goo everywhere. It stung a lot, but she would deal with that form of pain, compared to the burning fire in her heart.

"And his wife," she brushed off some of the ink, planning on using her own pincers as her combat tool at the moment. Cambridge never anticipated forming these relationships, let alone how strong they would have gotten in such a short span of time. One flying monster came right toward them, its huge talons ready to rip into anyone it could grab.

"Their mother is also here to help!" Zaffre brought her fist upward, punching the overgrown flying monster right back into the air. Then it was sniped by a burst of green ink from a charger. Another monster was about to try and come from the side, but it got squished by a roller and mushed into pink ink. A blast of black ink was fired at Zaiton. This time the shot got blocked by his left claw that he had quickly shifted his arm into.

"And their friends!" Callie, Marie and Granite all shouted in unison. Cambridge had a bright smile. Here he was in a life or death situation with not much energy. When things looked hopeless, he only the people he had forged these bonds with to turn to.

"We're Verlegens. Everyone has suffered horribly. Those who die or are no longer around have left nothing but the shards of their broken hearts. Verlegens forge links from those, creating a chain of hope," Cambridge's voice almost echoed, glad that no one realized he had just spoken off the top of his head and had done his best to not stutter. His family was helping defeat his fear.

"How cute… oh well, I suppose there is no need to hold back with this," Zaiton pulled out the genetic modification machine as his monsters began their attacks. The dozens of them charged at the family and close ones.

"Ready, Callie?"

"Ready, Marie!" the Squid Sisters activated their special abilities on their weapons, both of them quickly changing into their kraken forms and taking one side each, knocking aside any monster that attempted to attack them. The room shook with their combined giant size, but thankfully it was plenty big enough for them to fit.

"What is he… oh, of course… why am I surprised?" Zaffre wondered aloud, seeing Zaiton use the genetic modification machine on himself after finally finishing setting it up. Zaiton began to grow in size while everyone bore witness, his muscles and pincers growing and his hair elongating. He became a horrific mutant, as big as the two krakens.

"Watch it!" Granite called out, getting on Zaffre's side when he noticed a monster swing a spiky tentacle their way. He blocked it with his forearm, the tentacle wrapping around his arm quickly and digging a lot of its sharp teeth into it. The mother inkling stomped on the small monster, knocking it out instantly.

"I am sick of wasting my time on you all!" Zaiton claimed in his partially changing tone between deep and deeper, Celesio glaring at her mutant father who swung his giant claw at them. Celesio and Cambridge jumping to the side, seeing it crash into the ground and break the concrete, sending some debris upward.

"He's too big for the remote," Rackley stated. He and Alizarin had similar thoughts.

"You two go grab it. I'll cover you," Kreon ordered, seeing the GMM beside the mutant yeti crab, who had dropped it during his transformation.

"Well, I can't say this is the first time I've had to get close to something big," Alizarin began running for the monster mosh pit, Agent 3 following along.

"You'll get used to it," Rackley laughed, ducking under a random blast of white ink thrown their way. Alizarin jumped over the next attack before turning into his squid form to get under the next few.

"Scatter splatter!" Kreon activated her salmon slingshot's special ability, pulling back and firing a ball of green ink that exploded into dozens of ink bullets. Rackley changed into his squid form as well to avoid contact with the ink. The monsters were hit and pegged by the green ink, which was not too damaging but it stung them enough to get their attention on the dragon inkling.

"Ow!" Celesio cried, being bitten by a piranha squid on her leg.

"Get off her!" Cambridge shouted, not wanting his fiancée hurt. He kicked the monster in the jaw, making it let go. He swung his inkbrush at it three times, each hit of blue ink hurting it before it got splattered.

"Thank you…" Celesio sighed. The spider pinchling's eyes widened.

"Watch out!" she pushed her lover aside before blocking many stretchy tentacles that had sharp teeth running along them. She grabbed two of them with her pinchers and yanked the monster close, stomping on its head to knock it out.

"Enough!" Zaiton threw a fist at the group again, but his arm ended up grabbed by two big tentacles. The Kraken Squid Sisters had halted him.

"Knock it off!" Callie attempted to punch the oversized yeti crab. He grabbed her tentacle with his free hand, slamming it onto the ground. Marie hit him in the face, gaining his attention. He punched her backwards, making her let go. The black inkling kept holding onto his arm. He grabbed her with his hand and threw her backwards, the giant squid sliding across the floor and splattering several monsters. Marie halted her cousin before she crashed into the others.

"Got it!" Rackley grabbed the genetic modification device, but in his hands, it looked so complex that he had no clue how to use it.

"Gimme that!" Alizarin yanked it out of his brother's hand.

"Ugh… those two are going to get us killed," Kreon sighed, disappointed in herself for forgetting the low IQ the two had. But it was too late now. They were relying on them to save the moment.

"Are you two okay?" Cambridge asked. Callie and Marie were back to their inkling forms and on the floor. Callie had a worse beating from the giant yeti crab which stomped toward them, ready to crush them once and for all.

"My tentacles hurt and my chest is hurting…" Callie said. Marie was cradled her with her head on her lap. Callie cuddled tight because of how bad it hurt, as if she just wanted to go to sleep and be out for a while until the pain was gone.

"You two take it easy. We'll handle this," Cambridge insisted. Zaiton tried to crush Zaffre, but Granite shoved her out of the way in time before he got sent flying backwards from the earthquake that shot rubble up from the claw hitting the ground.

"You're starting to make me mad!" Zaffre told the oversized yeti crab, delivering a strong kick at his giant arm which did nothing. A mosquito could have done more than her because it would have at least drawn blood. Suddenly, they noticed Zaiton get bigger and more horrid.

"Wh-what's happening?!" Cambridge asked in fear, Celesio and Kreon casting annoyed looks over at their brothers.

"Uh… whoops…" Alizarin had only made the situation worse from trying to use the GMM on the yeti crab. Rackley yanked it out of the red squid's hands before he began to get to work. Thankfully most of the monsters were now defeated thanks to Zaiton's carelessness and the group's combined efforts. Cambridge decided buying time was the best option, he and his sister getting ready.

"Let's see how mad we can make him," Kreon grinned, firing three quick balls of green ink from her salmon slingshot and watching each one hit the face of the giant monster they were facing, but it barely had any affect. Cambridge and Celesio rushed to one of his legs, and began their assault with ink slashes and claw attacks.

"Come on…! This isn't working!" Celesio cried. The skin of her father at the moment was too thick for any of them to pierce with their simple attacks. It would take a lake of rainbow ink to splatter him at this point. Zaiton simply brushed the two aside with one claw. Cambridge and Celesio lay on the ground from the attack. Zaiton was about to stomp them down and grind them to dust. They both felt their hearts rapidly pounding before he suddenly stopped moving, having placed his foot on the ground. He panted, just as the last of his minions were bested.

"What happened…?" Celesio questioned while helping her fiancée off the ground. Zaiton no longer moved. The room was covered in various ink, everyone beginning to regather, looking confused.

"Wow… we turned his bones to stone," Rackley chimed, looking at the genetic modification machine as it read for him. The yeti crab's bones ossified, he had no movement of his limbs, or even his jaw. He stayed stuck in this position.

"Alright… now that things are calm, can we do something about him being big? Gonna be kind of hard to cuff him when he's a giant," Granite asked. All panic and fear had ceased, and things were a lot easier. Agent 3 and his brother began to tamper with the GMM.

"Wait! Don't use that setting-" Cambridge tried to say, but he was too late. They used the GMM on Zaiton, and the yeti crab's form changed drastically. What was revealed to them all was a tiny super sea snail.

"Oh, jeez…!" Cambridge sighed, holding his head, Celesio going over and picking up the white colored sea snail that was her father.

"I believe this is more than acceptable," she laughed, tossing the super sea snail over to the detective. With a shrug, Granite caught the snail, taking out his handcuffs and putting it on his shell before attaching it to his wrist.

"Hey! Is anyone here?!" they heard, looking up. One member of another SWAT team that had been sent in stood in the doorway, suspended high above the big pit. Marie was helping Callie walk as they approached, happy for things to have calmed down.

"We're fine! …right now anyway," Cambridge said.

"We apprehended the criminal suspect. Get a rope and ladder, and call for medical services," Detective Granite ordered. The SWAT team had taken forever to arrive due to the metal walls and the maze-like structure of the lair.

"Don't you need to inform the turf official's mom?" Rackley questioned. Zaiton did indeed tamper with a few turf wars, inevitably during the war in the background of Inkopolis. The mother squid shook her head.

"No need. I don't want this to get stupidly complex. We'll let regular law handle this instead of turf law," Zaffre replied, going on her knees and hugging her four children with her arms and tentacles, all of them injured, scraped, scratched and bruised, but all happy with the embrace, the others in the room finding the scene quite heartwarming.

"I'm proud of you all…"

Two hours of waiting passed, and everyone was out from Zaiton's evil lair. They stood outside of the bakery it had been hidden within, tiredly resting after all of this things had finally reached the end. It seemed all of this craziness had started all because of some stolen coins, as hard as it was to believe. There were news crews and police vehicles there at the moment. Rackley stood beside his girlfriend and her cousin at the ambulance.

"Is she going to be okay?" Marie asked the EMT who had just finished their examination.

"Yes, she just needs rest and a light painkiller. She only has a bruised ribcage," the emergency response worker stated. Callie exhaled in relief, glad to know it was not serious. Agent 3 smiled, glad as well. He walked off to let the two have their own time. Granite was away to transport Zaiton to jail, where he hoped the criminal will remain for the rest of his life.

"I'm real tapped…" Alizarin sighed, his head leaning back. Kreon was asleep with her head resting on his lap, accidentally falling unconscious from the lack of energy.

"Yes, well I owe you all for the rescue… I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble my father has caused you," Celesio spoke to the family. They were all great in her eyes, but they did not hold any anger in their hearts.

"Don't worry about it. We're past it now," Zaffre reassured. Cambridge got up, his custom inkbrush dangling off his side.

"Where are you going?" Kreon asked, she and the others seeing him stand up.

"I've got to handle something. I'll see you all later… Celesio, you can stay with us at our apartment," Cambridge said. Before anyone could reply, he walked off tiredly. He had something on his mind for all this time. The spider crab however did not take her fiancé's attempt to be alone, and she began to follow him off, leaving the family behind.

Sometime later, Cambridge was back at the docks once more, his feet clanking on the boardwalk and his head staring down at the necklace which still held the three teeth, lucky charm and green scale. He approached the specific storage unit of his, opening it and stepping inside.

"What's the matter, Cambridge?" the spider crab spoke up. The blue inkling turning around, finally noticing her approach him.

"Celesio…! I…" Cambridge paused for a second, but then sighed. It was time to reveal it to at least somebody, "I was just here to just make a decision of mine. You know that GRD we fought over?"

"Yes… what about it?" Celesio nodded, recalling how she had used it to force him into their engagement in the first place. She saw him take it out of the box full of video tapes.

"I was going to use it to recreate my dad as a squishie… even if it wasn't him," he sighed, setting it down. Celesio looked at the machine before looking at her husband to be.

"Is that what this machine's power is? The octarians certainly are quite the masters of inventions," the pinchling claimed, not too mad about being the only pinchling left in the world, but she was living with it. She understood him, considering her grandfather and mother were dead.

"And dad told me I needed to think hard about something before I decide… and I made my decision," Cambridge said. Suddenly a crunch sounded. He had stomped on the GRD, breaking it into small pieces.

"…I suppose you've made your decision," Celesio guessed. Cambridge nodded, looking at the television before he had a thought come to him. He began rummaging through the box full of tapes, and after a short time, pulled out a tape which read 'To Cambridge's Wife'.

"Come here. I want you to meet my dad," Cambridge insisted, smiling a little. Celesio was concerned now, wondering if he was having mental hallucinations. She sat and watched him put the video tape inside. It did not take long before his father Sheen appeared on screen.

"Hey there. If you're seeing this, then you've just married my son. I know about you a good bit, really, and I know your circumstances were odd, but I know you two'll be fine. You have overcome a lot together and separately… though keep an eye out for my son. I don't imagine things being calm," Sheen laughed. The video tape went on rambling after that, going on about how the Verlegens always somehow found their way into trouble or bad luck. The tape ended after all was said and done.

"Wow… can we watch another? I've got to know about him," Celesio requested. Cambridge was surprised, but since this was as close as she was going to get to meeting the orange inkling, he accepted. The two thus spent hours upon hours watching the tapes.

"Thanks dad… for everything," Cambridge thought. His wife took her turn to pick the tape, and she found one that caught her interest

"Hey Cambridge! Let's watch this one! It has 3 Xs!" Celesio chimed. The blue squid forgot to burn that, not sure what to do about this. He stood up, coming over.

"N-no! Come on, let's watch another one," Cambridge requested. When he reached for the tape, she pulled back.

"Oh really? Why's that?" Celesio smirked, seeing her love's flushed face.

"Uh… I-it's really embarrassing. Please, just hand it here," he requested, but once again she stepped away from him.

"Nope. If you want it this badly, then that means there is something valuable on it that I'd like to see," she laughed before rushing off.

"W-wait!" Cambridge wound up in an unwanted chase through the warehouse, trying to retrieve the tape from her. But things were at least looking up for the couple and everyone else after the horrible events that had befallen all of them.

 **The end...**


End file.
